You can activate two shortcuts using the iPhone 15 Pro’s Action Button.

How to make the iPhone 15 Pro’s amazing new feature even more useful.

The Action Button on the iPhone 15 Pro is a game-changing feature. With it, you can quickly access functions like the camera and flashlight, or if you’re feeling creative, a variety of useful shortcuts and automations. But what’s even better than assigning one shortcut to the Action Button? Assigning two shortcuts to the Action Button.

This clever trick was shared by Federico Viticci on his MacStories blog. Viticci is known for creating a vast collection of shortcuts, and his latest creation is called MultiButton. It utilizes a workaround that allows you to activate two shortcuts using the Action Button. The idea behind MultiButton is straightforward: press the Action Button once to activate your primary shortcut and press it a second time, within seven seconds of the first press, to trigger the second shortcut.

Here’s what Viticci has to say about his shortcut:

All of this wouldn’t have been necessary if Apple had supported multiple gestures for the Action button, such as double- and triple-presses.

Unfortunately, in this version of iOS 17 for the iPhone 15 Pro, the Action button can only be linked to one shortcut at a time.

I thought I could address this limitation with some clever programming in Shortcuts.

As he points out, Apple doesn’t allow you to double or triple-tap the Action Button for different actions by default. So his shortcut addresses this limitation to some extent. Even if you immediately press the Action Button again after the first press, your first Action Button press will still activate your primary shortcut. Therefore, you’ll need to carefully consider the shortcuts you select and the order in which you assign them. Regarding the seven-second timer between the two presses of the Action Button, Viticci mentions that he chose this time frame arbitrarily based on his own use of the button. If you press the Action Button a second time after seven seconds, it will still activate the primary shortcut you assigned.

You can download the MultiButton shortcut here, but it’s a good idea to also read the original blog post by Viticci. In the post, he provides detailed instructions on how to set up the shortcut, suggests potential use cases, and offers examples of how you can maximize the benefits of this shortcut tweak. Enjoy doubling the usefulness of one of the best features of your new iPhone 15 Pro.