My Favorite Use for the iPhone's Action Button: Ordering Coffee From Dunkin'

Before I upgraded to the iPhone 15 Pro last year, ordering my morning coffee usually involved a couple of steps. First, I’d open the Dunkin’ app, then I’d tap the Order tab, choose the location I usually frequent and finally select my regular coffee order. Now, all I have to do is hold down the iPhone 15 Pro’s Action button to get the job done.

The Action button arrived on the iPhone 15 Pro last year as a shortcut for launching basic tasks. It’s now available across the entire iPhone 16 lineup, meaning you no longer have to splurge on the Pro to get this handy button. You can program the button to open the flashlight, launch the camera, turn on the magnifier, translate phrases, use an accessibility feature, record a voice memo, put your phone on silent mode or turn on a Focus mode like Do Not Disturb. You can also use it to run a shortcut with a simple press.

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That last option is what really makes the Action button interesting. Apple’s Shortcuts app, which has been available since iOS 12 launched in 2018, automates certain tasks on your iPhone. Originally, the app served as a clever way to expand Siri’s capabilities by enabling it to handle multiple tasks with a single command and execute highly personalized voice prompts. 

But when combined with the Action button, it unlocks a whole new level of functionality. You can set the Action button to carry out any of the Shortcuts you’ve created in the app, opening up a bunch of possibilities that you won’t really grasp until you play around with it yourself. In my opinion, it’s more useful than the iPhone 16’s new Camera Control button so far. 

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For the Dunkin’ example above, I created a shortcut that automatically places a previous order. When creating a new Dunkin’ shortcut, you can choose to either trigger a new order, or re-order a previous one. If you choose the Order Dunkin’ Again option, you’ll be presented with some of your recent orders. 

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Since it pulls this information from the Dunkin’ app, the store location you’ve previously visited and payment information are already set. You can even choose whether you want to walk in or use the drive-thru to pick up your order. I should note I’m not the first to discover you can use the Action button as an on-demand coffee button. A TikTok user that goes by the name brett.tech did the same thing with a Starbucks shortcut shortly after the iPhone 15 Pro launched.

Ordering coffee is my favorite use of the Action button, but I’ve also tried some other interesting ones. For example, you can turn the Action button into a ChatGPT button by programming it to start a voice conversation with OpenAI’s virtual assistant. I’ve also used the button to start a 30-second timer, which could be useful for stretching before a workout, and to quickly call my husband without having to open the phone app. There’s also a workaround that sort of mimics Google’s Circle to Search feature for Android by creating a shortcut that takes a screenshot and then launches a Google Lens search. 

Using the Action button in this way has left me wanting more. The button supports only one action, which feels limiting given all the possible shortcuts you could program. I wish I could long press to call my husband but double press to order my coffee, for example. 

Still, it’s another sign that Apple is experimenting with different ways to interact with your iPhone, along with the Dynamic Island and Camera Control key.