Apple continues to captivate the photographer in all of us with new products. camera control button in iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. However, for some people, using on-screen camera controls is more familiar and convenient.
Should we just ignore this ingenious combination of physical buttons and capacitive sliders? It turns out there’s more to it than just working with camera controls. You can set it to act like a second action button for actions that don’t involve taking a photo at all.
Look at this: Apple’s new camera control buttons are no good! My iPhone 16 Pro Max reaction
It will eventually become a Visual Intelligence button
Outside of photography, the most prominent use of the camera control button is Visual Intelligence, a feature that uses Apple Intelligence to identify information in front of the camera. Apple’s demo includes getting restaurant details, getting the name, and more. Select your dog breed and get study aids via ChatGPT.
Identify your dog’s breed using Apple Intelligence.
Click and hold the camera control button to activate visual intelligence, and press the button again to display information about what’s in the frame. Apple says Visual Intelligence will arrive later this year.
OK, Visual Intelligence sounds great, but what can it do? now?Two functions that use the camera, but not the Photos app, are easily accessed using the camera control button. You can also assign these to action buttons, but if you’re busy with something else, like a flashlight or something you use a lot, you can turn the camera control into a second action button.
For now, you can now see the enlarged image.
I sometimes admire Sherlock Holmes, who always carries a magnifying glass with him. At least, that’s the popular image of detectives. When you’re in a dimly lit restaurant and want to read a serial number or small print on a menu, you pull out your iPhone, open Control Center, and turn on Magnifier. Not only can you digitally zoom in on something, but you can also turn on your flashlight to see even better.
But for now, it requires multiple steps: unlock your phone, swipe down to open Control Center, and tap the Magnifier button. The magnifier button may not exist, so adding it requires more steps.
Instead, use the camera controls to jump directly to the magnifier. Settings > Camera > Camera Control and select magnifying glass.
Set the camera control button to launch Magnifier when pressed.
Press the button to start the magnifier. But this is more than just a shortcut. A firm touch brings up a contextual overlay of camera controls, and you can slide your finger along the surface to zoom. Double-touch to toggle zoom, contrast, brightness, and filters, and change these settings without using the screen. (However, the flashlight controls are not included in the overlay and must be activated via the on-screen controls. Swipe up twice to see all magnification controls, then tap the flashlight button )
In addition to quickly scanning a QR code
Do some of you scan QR codes frequently and need access to a one-button code reader feature? Maybe. Then again, I purposely added a scan code button to Control Center a while back because it was more convenient than using the camera app.
go to Settings > Camera > Camera Control and select code scanner Assign the scanner to the camera control button. If you firmly touch the button at startup, you can zoom in using the context controls. This cannot be done any other way.
Assign the code scanner function to the camera control button.
It’s worth noting that code scanners have several advantages over camera apps. For example, if you need more lighting, you can turn on the flashlight. It also loads the QR code destination into its own app space, which can clutter the open browser window when opened in the Safari app.
Apple’s developer guidelines state that camera controls can only be used in apps that use a camera, so this button has no non-camera implementation. But we can also imagine other potential uses.
Perhaps it could act as a quick document scanner to reduce the number of steps required to get documents into the Notes app. Alternatively, you can trigger Live Recognition accessibility mode for users who have easier access to camera control buttons than action buttons.
