I tell my friends that the new iPhone 16 is coming and they all say the same thing, “What’s so new about it?” I heard an editor question whether the new phone was even worth being called the iPhone 15s, a reference to the iPhone 6s days when Apple would update internal parts bi-annually without changing the look of the iPhone. My only response is: can’t you see the new button? What more do you want?!
You think it’s just a button? Sure, the camera hasn’t changed much. It can’t take infrared photos or x-ray through walls. It doesn’t record holograms that you can have R2-D2 playback when you find Ben Kenobi. In fact, Apple’s camera software options are pretty simple compared to Samsung and Google, and the new button doesn’t catch up to the competition’s pro controls.
I still take umbrage with saying ‘just a button.’ A button is a big deal! How many buttons does a phone have? Three? Four? My iPhone 15 Pro Max has four: volume up, volume down, Siri (wait, where’s the Power button?), and Action Button. One of those was a brand new button when I bought that phone, I’m sure, but my iPhone 13 Pro Max also has four buttons, so maybe I’m wrong.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is the most feature-packed phone I own, and it only has five buttons – and two of those are on the S Pen! Actually, I count the S Pen ejector click as a button, but it doesn’t do anything, it’s just for fun. Why doesn’t Apple give us any buttons that don’t do anything!? The iPhone 16 Camera Control button looks fun, but it actually does stuff.
What the Camera Control button does and doesn’t do
The camera button will open the camera … I think? Right now, my Action Button opens my iPhone 15 Pro Max camera, but I will soon use my iPhone 16 Pro (desert titanium, of course) Camera Control for that. I hope.
I’m pretty sure the Camera button doesn’t just open the camera, but also opens AI – that is Apple Intelligence. Holding the Camera Control button takes a photo that is immediately fed to Apple’s AI to grok.
There’s a big chance I will forget how to open the Camera and accidentally feed Apple’s AI … over and over again. I mostly use my iPhone buttons to take accidental screenshots, so this will be an improvement. At least there will be intelligence involved.
Anyway, with the Camera Control button, I finally get the two-stage shutter button that I’ve been hoping for. I can press the button halfway to focus the camera, then squeeze the rest of the way to take the shot.
I get so many mystified stares when I explain a two-stage camera button, I’m guessing that half of you have no idea what I’m talking about. This is the way standard cameras work, and have worked since autofocus was invented, but I think most people had no idea a camera could do this. Most people just jam the camera button all the way to take a photo.
The two-stage button makes photos better. It is easier to focus a camera and hold the camera steady when you take the shot. That means photos are much more clear.
I honestly think this will be the biggest improvement to iPhone photography since Apple added a second camera lens. This is the biggest hardware improvement I wanted for smartphones, aside from bringing back the 3.5mm headphone jack.
More than just an iPhone 16 button, it’s the start of something
…all Android phone makers will add a two-stage camera button within two years…
The new button is more than just a button. The Camera Control is touch-sensitive. You can swipe on it. Okay, that’s cool. I can see how that would be useful to change settings, and maybe even fun! I can also imagine switching between camera lenses with accidental swipes. That would be a disaster.
If Apple had given us only a two-stage focus, for that alone I would have been thankful. But Apple did not stop at an autofocus swipe button. Apple goes even further with AI. Tying the Camera Control button directly to Apple Intelligence puts AI front-and-center in a way that Google and Samsung have avoided.
You can find plenty of cool AI tools on the best Samsung phones. You can talk to Google Gemini by holding a button on your Pixel 9 phone. Neither of those make it so easy for AI to see what you see, at the press of a button. We’re not even sure what this will be useful for, we just know you can show the AI things and then you can, umm…
Back to the button. A button is a big deal! We need more buttons. This isn’t the first new button I’ve seen recently (hi Action Button!) and it won’t be the last. Good. I’m getting tired of touch screens.
First, I expect all Android phone makers will add a two-stage camera button within two years. It will take a few months for existing buyers to get jealous and demand a button on their next Android, and then It takes around 18 months to design a new phone. Therefore, two years – I’d put money on it.
Second, a camera button is just the start. There may be more buttons on the way. AI buttons. Buttons we haven’t thought about yet. There will be more buttons on the way. The zombie specter of phone buttons has been awakened, and it is hungry for new ideas.
Finally, touchscreens are terrible, at least on their own. A touchscreen is a mistaken tap waiting to happen. It’s a million wrong buttons that I can press while trying to press the one right button. It’s an Escape Room without an Esc. key. We need more buttons to help us control our phones.
Touchscreens are good for people with certain skills – a level of dexterity, or fine motor control. It was always wrong to make touch the only paradigm to control our smartphones (and don’t get me started on cars). I want more buttons, and if you can’t see why the new button is a big deal, then you’re probably still trying to unlock your phone screen with your fingers.
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philip.berne@futurenet.com (Philip Berne)
