Physical Camera Control button and an Inherited Habit (iPhone 16 models)

Adding a physical camera button to the iPhone 16 series was a great step towards people using it as a main device for photography and making videos, and believe it or not, there are a lot of them. Some people have even successfully made full movies with iPhones.

When I upgraded my 13 Pro Max to the 16 Pro Max, the camera button was something I had been looking forward to until I noticed that I was not using it at all!

In the very distant past, I had been using a digital camera, and the trigger button was always under my slightly bent index finger on my right hand.

Here, as a user with “history” I found myself in a position where the button was not accessible for use in daily life.

I do not have small hands, and my fingers are not short, but reaching the camera button while placing my hand on the side of the phone without covering the screen was a bit of a challenge.

I would personally prefer if the button were moved much further down, to the bottom of the phone by the full height of it, especially on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is bigger than the 13 Pro Max that I used before.

This move would allow me to have an experience similar to what I had in the past with digital cameras.

Currently, to reach and press the camera button, I need to keep my finger straight and stretch slightly to press it firmly. Unless I decide to press it by placing part of my hand on the bottom of the screen, then it’s not a problem. It looks like a habit I will need to develop to use it in a comfortable way.

But that’s not the reason I want to write about inherited habits.

By placing a physical button for the camera on the side of the phone, Apple didn’t take it a step further and remove the camera shortcut button from the lock screen.

For the last three months, I noticed that I hadn’t been using the camera button at all. Instead, I had been pressing and holding the camera shortcut on the lock screen.

This is a trivial approach, but it adds a split-second delay before the camera is up and running, ready to take pictures.

The physical button launches the camera app much quicker.

Also, when taking pictures, I still tend to press the capture button on the screen rather than using the physical button.

It is hard to break a habit that I inherited since my first iPhone 6, but I decided to make life harder for myself to change it.

As in iOS 18 we can easily customise lock screens, including the bottom two shortcuts, one of which is the camera shortcut, I decided to remove it altogether.

I initially replaced it with another app, like ChatGPT, but then I found that, through muscle memory, I was automatically pressing the ChatGPT icon to open the camera.

Removing it — at least until I change my habit — will hopefully help me and force me to use the physical button much more.

But that’s not all.

If I want to quickly open the camera and take a picture, the physical button helps with that. However, when I use the camera to take more than one picture, I quickly notice that I press the shutter button on the screen, and it makes perfect sense.

If you hold your phone with one hand, then utilising the physical button makes sense, but I found that I do not take pictures by holding the phone in one hand.

This may be due to the era of digital cameras, but it could also be because of the weight of the phone itself. When taking multiple pictures with the iPhone 16 Pro Max in your right hand, you will quickly notice how heavy it is and how your wrist starts hurting.

In the long run, I found that I hold my phone in photo mode with both hands, positioning my hands on the left and right in horizontal mode.

In this way of holding the phone, reaching for the awkwardly positioned physical button is a bit of a stretch, and I know I will not use it because my thumb is already naturally positioned, ready to press the shutter.

Maybe it’s just me, but moving the button further down (to the right, when held horizontally) would make sense for me, although it might not work for people taking photos and pictures in portrait mode.

In that mode, the position of the button is optimised for the middle finger, allowing you to use the phone with one hand (left), without needing to stretch your thumb to reach the shutter.

I think that through the whole process of implementing the button, Apple needed to go through a thorough process to find the optimal position.

Overall, more people are taking photos and videos in portrait mode now, and for them, this button is perfectly positioned, right under their finger.

I am a bit of a dinosaur and still prefer horizontal mode in daily use.

This reminds me of a meme from Apple’s past, when people complained about losing reception on their phones because they covered the antennas with their hand. Apple’s response — from Steve himself at the time — was that “you’re holding your phone wrong.” That didn’t go down well, but as phones grew in size, it made perfect sense.

Due to my habit, I wouldn’t be surprised if, from the grave, Steve Jobs were telling me the same thing — that “I’m using it wrong”.

It’s a tough job, and the older you get, the harder it is to change habits.

What do you think?