iPhone 16 has a new Camera Control button -- Here's everything it can do

AppleInsider

The iPhone 16 range is finally here, and it features an all-new Camera Control button. Here's how it works, and everything it can do.

The iPhone 16 range features an all-new Camera Control button

On Monday, during Apple's Glowtime event, the company showcased an entirely new hardware button, which is available on every device in the iPhone 16 lineup. Known as the Camera Control, the button can be found on the bottom right, below the power button.

Unlike the power button and every other button on the iPhone 16, the Camera Control has additional capacitive and pressure-sensing functionality. It's also ever so slightly recessed, meaning it doesn't stick out from the device frame like traditional iPhone buttons.

The Camera Control button features a smooth sapphire crystal surface with a stainless steel ring surrounding it.

The sapphire crystal surface, coupled with a conductive layer and a capacitive sensor, allows the button to recognize touch-based gestures. A high-precision force sensor lets it detect different levels of pressure, while a tactile switch is used for the usual click experience. The button also provides haptic feedback through communication with the iPhone's Taptic Engine.

As its name implies, the Camera Control button offers new functionality related to photo and video capture. It can be used in both the horizontal and vertical device orientation. The Camera Control can recognize and respond to a multitude of different gestures and press types:

• Single click: Opens the Camera app or a compatible third-party app


• Single click, within the Camera app: Takes a photo


• Click and hold: Opens the Camera app and starts recording video


• Single light press: locks focus and exposure on a subject (available later in the fall of 2024)


• Double light press: Opens a minimal camera preview menu, which lets users select different controls such as exposure or depth of field


• Swipe along the surface: adjusts different parameters such as zoom, exposure, or depth of field

As part of a new Visual Intelligence feature, users will be able to click and hold the Camera Control button while aiming their iPhone at an object or location of interest.

For instance, users will be able to point their iPhone towards a restaurant and receive information about the location's ratings or working hours. In the same way, users will also be able to add a calendar event from a flyer or identify a dog by breed.

The Camera Control will also let users search for things via Google or ChatGPT in the same manner. This will let users easily find an item they want to buy, for instance.

Camera Control offers quick access to several iPhone camera options

Developers of third-party applications, such as Snapchat, will be able to make use of the Camera Control button as well. According to Apple, apps like Kino will offer the ability to adjust white balance and set focus points, though this will only become available in the fall of 2024.

Users will also be able to adjust different settings related to the Camera Control button, such as the light press sensitivity and double press speed. The Camera Control button is also compatible with Apple's new cases for the iPhone 16 range.

Along with the Camera Control button, the iPhone 16 range features a variety of other improvements. The base model iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have received the Action button, a new vertical camera alignment for Spatial Video, as well as the A18 chip, which allows for Apple Intelligence features.

The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have received increased display sizes of 6.3 and 6.9 inches, the A18 Pro chip, and improved cameras in addition to the new Camera Control button. Apple also announced Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4, and updates to AirPods Max, as part of the Glowtime event.



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macxpress

I feel like Apple is running out of ideas with the iPhone which makes sense since it's a very mature product. This seems like a gimmick to me. 

slow n easy

It would only be a gimmick for people who don't use the camera app very often. For people who do use the camera app often, it's amazing. It is way faster and simpler to just press a button to access the camera. If this is a gimmick, then I guess that MagSafe is also a gimmick. I wouldn't want to be without MagSafe, and I wouldn't want to be without instant camera access either.

hmlongco

Will have to use it, but first take on it is that it's very much like Apple to take the commonly accepted, "hey, they're going to add a shutter button" and enhance the functionality past what's expected.

JinTech

macxpress said:

I feel like Apple is running out of ideas with the iPhone which makes sense since it's a very mature product. This seems like a gimmick to me. 

To make the camera, and the controls easily accessible with one button is not a gimmick. Now if all it did was open the camera app, that would be a gimmick but it goes far above and beyond just that. 

slurpy

macxpress said:

I feel like Apple is running out of ideas with the iPhone which makes sense since it's a very mature product. This seems like a gimmick to me. 

I mean, you've been a negative troll on this forum for a very long time, but I'd love to see you list additional features and improvements that are exciting, feasible, and would benefit the majority of iPhone users, since everything is allegedly a "gimmick" to you, and Apple is "out of ideas". No seriously, very curious about that. Because to me, taking one of the most commonly used and important features of the device (taking photos), and making that interaction more robust, flexible, powerful, funner, and easier to use, is the literal opposite of a "gimmick". 

mike1

macxpress said:

I feel like Apple is running out of ideas with the iPhone which makes sense since it's a very mature product. This seems like a gimmick to me. 

Not if you use the camera a lot. Among other things, it clearly reduces the steps necessary to start a video if your default camera action is photos. Also seems much easier to make adjustments while shooting.

javair

Using that new touch-sensitive button as a moving dial surface is novel, and might be great.

However, using the force-touch button to take a picture can cause your phone to MOVE as you shoot it.

Back in the day, when I first got an iPhone (5S) and started using its camera, I first use the option of the physical button on the side to activate the image-capture; as one would do with a full stand-alone camera.
But I found that some shots had a slight motion, as the force to press the button moved the phone a bit. So, I gravitated toward the on-screen button.

Buttons on a real stand-alone cameras must be calibrated so perfectly to prevent such movement.
Maybe Apple figured a calibration for this new button that will just as nice.

JinTech

javair said:

Using that new touch-sensitive button as a moving dial surface is novel, and might be great.

However, using the force-touch button to take a picture can cause your phone to MOVE as you shoot it.

You make it sound as though they did absolutely no quality assurance on this what so ever, that they never tried to take pictures with this button to see the outcome, under any circumstances. 

You know, there is a button on the side of the phone that people have been using to snap pics for years, and it works great!

tht

A light press is a touch and hold without clicking?

By click, I take that to mean a mechanical flexture type click. And it really is feeling the click and release.

Is click and hold a thing?

Yes, I have not watched any of the press event material. Too busy. 

StrangeDays

macxpress said:

I feel like Apple is running out of ideas with the iPhone which makes sense since it's a very mature product. This seems like a gimmick to me. 

Better camera controls are certainly not a gimmick. Shooting is still awkward on a phone. Putting the capture controls where they belong, on the top-right side, is welcome. 

Would I advise normies upgrade for it? Or upgrade each year? Not at all. Is that you? Or are you a phone nerd who wants the latest and greatest? Both are fine. 

mikethemartian

I’m surprised that they hadn’t already implemented these features in the past.

gatorguy

tht said:

A light press is a touch and hold without clicking?

By click, I take that to mean a mechanical flexture type click. And it really is feeling the click and release.

Is click and hold a thing?

Yes, I have not watched any of the press event material. Too busy. 

Yes, the button is also mechanical, you physically depress it for some functions 

Xed

mikethemartian said:

I’m surprised that they hadn’t already implemented these features in the past.

There was a SIM card tray in that location in past years. The US iPhones removed the physical SiM card with the iPhone 14, but outside the US it still existed. I wonder if this means that the physical SIM card tray is finally gone for everyone or markets that still require that archaic setup will just have to forgo the Camera Control button or something else.

edit: The physical SIM still exists in the iPhone 16 series but I see it's on the other side of the iPhone. I think the battery is on that side so the battery size would likely be a little smaller.

appleinsideruser

gatorguy said:

tht said:

A light press is a touch and hold without clicking?

By click, I take that to mean a mechanical flexture type click. And it really is feeling the click and release.

Is click and hold a thing?

Yes, I have not watched any of the press event material. Too busy. 

Yes, the button is also mechanical, you physically depress it for some functions 

Er, isn't it haptic?

gatorguy

appleinsideruser said:

gatorguy said:

tht said:

A light press is a touch and hold without clicking?

By click, I take that to mean a mechanical flexture type click. And it really is feeling the click and release.

Is click and hold a thing?

Yes, I have not watched any of the press event material. Too busy. 

Yes, the button is also mechanical, you physically depress it for some functions 

Er, isn't it haptic?

it is both. 

dewme

This implementation shows a lot of promise and I'll have to do some hands-on and fingers-on testing to see how it works in practice. The only issue I've ever had with Apple's photography features are a result of Apple moving the power button to the right side of the larger iPhones rather than leaving it on top. I've missed chance photo opportunities on a number of occasions when I've raised my phone up in landscape mode only to see the whole screen go dark when my right thumb accidentally hit the power button. This started with the iPhone 6 Plus and has dogged me ever since. This new Camera Control Button may turn out to be a cure to my issue as long as I always raise the phone as shown in the picture above. Now I'll only have to worry about my left thumb causing the volume to go up or down every time I take a photo. My pesky fingers don't do well with too many buttons, but that's just me.

There's really no need for anyone to feel that they have to defend any decisions that Apple makes in their product designs. Apple's designs have always spoken for themselves and have maintained a damn good track record of nailing it for a large percentage of Apple's customers. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and Apple can't please everyone all of the time. We keep coming back for more for good reason so Apple is doing a lot of things right. Even though I would prefer that Apple do something like move the power button back to the top, I really don't know what the consequences of doing that would entail. Somehow I've been able to take over 25,000 photos starting with my iPhone 6 Plus, so I'm dealing with it. 

That said, if you're going to bash something, at least give it a try before you unload on it so the reasons behind your displeasure are part of your assessment. I suspect that some of the negativity would subside if people gave things a try before they wrote them off. Even without using the Camera Control Button I still would't call it a "gimmick" because it is fully intended to serve a utilitarian purpose. Does it? The only way to know is to try it in practice. If I tried it and found that it didn't do what Apple said it should do, or turned out to be gratuitous or unnecessary, then I would say that it missed the mark, at least for me. On the other side of the fence, there have been cases where Apple's promises or hype around a new feature didn't really live up to practical use across a wide range of customers who tried to use it. Something that doesn't deliver after trying to use it should be subjected to negative reviews. 

macxpress

slurpy said:

macxpress said:

I feel like Apple is running out of ideas with the iPhone which makes sense since it's a very mature product. This seems like a gimmick to me. 

I mean, you've been a negative troll on this forum for a very long time, but I'd love to see you list additional features and improvements that are exciting, feasible, and would benefit the majority of iPhone users, since everything is allegedly a "gimmick" to you, and Apple is "out of ideas". No seriously, very curious about that. Because to me, taking one of the most commonly used and important features of the device (taking photos), and making that interaction more robust, flexible, powerful, funner, and easier to use, is the literal opposite of a "gimmick". 

No I haven't lol. I think you need to go back and re-read some of my posts and then you'll realize how fuckin stupid your comment is. You're the one who jumps to conclusions and just because someone doesn't agree with something Apple announced or did, they're automatically a troll.  

macxpress

StrangeDays said:

macxpress said:

I feel like Apple is running out of ideas with the iPhone which makes sense since it's a very mature product. This seems like a gimmick to me. 

Better camera controls are certainly not a gimmick. Shooting is still awkward on a phone. Putting the capture controls where they belong, on the top-right side, is welcome. 

Would I advise normies upgrade for it? Or upgrade each year? Not at all. Is that you? Or are you a phone nerd who wants the latest and greatest? Both are fine. 

I just upgraded last year to an iPhone 15 Pro from an iPhone 12 Pro. I don't need nor do I care to have the latest and greatest Apple products. I just recently pre-ordered the new Apple Watch series 10 to replace my Series 5. I just don't see this as a useful tool, at least to me. Just like I don't see the action button as a useful tool. I just use it as the sleep silent button like it used to be. It's just not useful to me. 

hawkpride147

macxpress said:

I feel like Apple is running out of ideas with the iPhone which makes sense since it's a very mature product. This seems like a gimmick to me. 

No, the action button is more of a gimmick (though with the ability to assign shortcuts, maybe it will be less so). This makes the iPhone more of a full camera. It reminds me of using some of the features of my DSLR without having to click through menus. I'm honestly surprised it's on the non-pro versions.

hypoluxa

slow n easy said:

It would only be a gimmick for people who don't use the camera app very often. For people who do use the camera app often, it's amazing. It is way faster and simpler to just press a button to access the camera. If this is a gimmick, then I guess that MagSafe is also a gimmick. I wouldn't want to be without MagSafe, and I wouldn't want to be without instant camera access either.

Agreed. Incremental updates are how things progress. HW features and getting them working flawlessly takes time.