Apple clearly had more in mind when it added the first new physical button to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro since the Action Button appeared on the iPhone 15 Pro. The Camera Control, which lies flush on the right side of the phone, is a physical button as well as a touch-sensitive capacitive control surface that responds to pressure and also detects finger movement like a tiny, narrow trackpad.
For photography, it adds a whole new way to take photos and switch capture settings on the fly. But it's also key to Visual Intelligence, a feature of Apple Intelligence that uses the camera to recognize things around you and act on them. iOS 18.3 adds two new Visual Intelligence capabilities -- quick identification of plants and animals, plus the ability to create a calendar item by pointing at an event listing (which you can do even without an iPhone that runs Apple Intelligence).
Using a physical button to trigger the camera shutter isn't a new concept. You can snap a photo by pressing the volume control button in the Camera app. So if the new Camera Control were simply another button -- even if better positioned when holding the phone in its wide orientation -- it would have felt like a letdown. Instead, it's a feature exclusive to the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Read more: Best camera control cases for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro
How the Camera Control button works
The iPhone's Camera Control is a physical button that depresses when you push it, but it's also accentuated with haptic feedback like the MacBook trackpads (which feel indistinguishable from a physical mechanism even though the trackpad is just a solid piece of glass).
The Camera Control sits flush on the edge of the iPhone case.
The surface of the button is a smooth capacitive surface that responds to the motion of your fingertip. (The MacBook Pro Touch Bar technology lives on!)
When you lightly press the button -- exerting some pressure on the surface but not enough to depress the switch -- an onscreen overlay appears. Did you notice how iOS 18 introduced a subtle user interface animation that shows a black indent where a physical button press occurs? The Camera Control button extends that area to an overlay where the Camera Control options reside.
Lightly press the Camera Control to reveal an overlay.
Open the Camera app with the Camera Control button
One of the new standout iOS 18 features is the ability to remove the default Camera icon from the lock screen and replace it with something else. I've personally never used this shortcut, preferring to swipe from the right edge to open the app.
Now, pressing the Camera Control button quickly launches the built-in Camera app, which is arguably faster because it's positioned near where your thumb or finger rests while holding the iPhone.
The iPhone 16's Camera Control button lets you launch the camera without touching the screen.
If you find yourself accidentally launching the app when you don't mean to, you can require a double-press: Go to Settings > Camera > Camera Control and under Launch Camera select Double Click.
Capture a photo or video the 'traditional' way
Camera ergonomics are often overlooked, but they can mean the difference between composing a shot comfortably and twisting your fingers into pretzels to tap the shutter button onscreen.
To take a picture, press down on the Camera Control button. To start recording video, press and hold the button. (Hopefully, a future update will add a setting that lets you change the hold behavior, allowing it to capture bursts of images instead of video. You can already do that by pressing the Volume Up button, but only after enabling the option under Settings > Camera > Use Volume Up for Burst.)
Take a photo the way you would press the shutter on a DSLR or mirrorless camera.
A light press also temporarily hides most of the interface items for a clutter-free look at your subject. If you don't mind seeing that information, go to Settings > Camera > Camera Control and turn off Clean Preview.
In iOS 18.3 you can lock auto exposure and auto focus (AE/AF) with a light press and hold of the button, the way you can with a half-press of the shutter button on most cameras. Otherwise you can still touch and hold on the screen where you want to focus and the app will lock focus and exposure at that point, even if you recompose the shot.
If you find yourself locking exposure and focus accidentally, this can also be turned off. Go to Settings > Camera > Camera Control and turn off Lock Focus and Exposure.
Zoom and switch between the cameras
Perhaps the biggest advantage of the Camera Control is having so many functions available without having to move your fingers all over the screen.
To zoom in and out, you lightly press to bring up a slider and drag to adjust the focal length.
Zoom in or out using the Camera Control.
A light double-press of the Camera Control button brings up a sliding overlay of other camera options.
The Cameras option -- represented by an icon that looks like a shutter -- allows you to switch between cameras and their focal lengths, such as selecting the Ultra Wide camera (0.5x zoom) or the Telephoto camera (5x zoom).
Quickly adjust exposure and depth
Also included in the overlay that appears when you lightly double-press the Camera Control button are options for Exposure Compensation and Depth. The latter is the iPhone's way of changing the aperture (it even uses a ƒ icon to indicate f-stops), but because all iPhone cameras include fixed physical apertures (the opening through which light passes through the lens to the image sensor), the control adjusts the simulated depth in Portrait mode; if the camera detects a subject in the scene, it automatically saves depth information.
Adjust the Depth setting for portraits and other scenes with a person or pet as the main subject.
Choose Photographic Styles
Apple has revamped its Photographic Styles feature on the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models, replacing the stock filters and making the styles more editable. They're also selectable via the Camera Control. (The iPhone 13, 14 and 15 models still use the Photographic Styles feature introduced in 2021, which operates differently.)
Double-press lightly on the control to view the capture overlay and drag to select the Photographic Styles option. Then slide your finger to preview the styles in real time and choose one.
Preview Photographic Styles from the Camera Control overlay.
Camera Control works for capturing video, too
These Camera Control options also apply when shooting video. In Apple's video from its September 2024 event, a demo suggested that switching between resolutions and frame rates, such as 4K 120 FPS, will be possible using the control, but that feature doesn't yet appear. Currently you can zoom, choose cameras and adjust exposure.
Apple also demonstrated how it can be applied in third-party photo and video apps by highlighting the Grid Composer feature in Lux Software's Kino video app, which cycles among types of visible guides.
The video app Kino uses Camera Control to switch between types of onscreen guides.
What about non-photo features of the Camera Control?
The button is reserved for photographic uses, including features that third-party developers include in their photo and video capture apps. If you don't want to take pictures using the control, you can also use it like a second Action button to scan QR codes or launch the Magnifier Control Center tool. Go to Settings > Camera > Camera Control and choose Code Scanner or Magnifier in the list of apps.
But the Camera Control is also the gateway for a new Apple Intelligence feature called Visual Intelligence that uses the camera.
With the iPhone locked, press and hold the Camera Control button to bring up Visual Intelligence, which activates the camera. When you snap a picture in this mode, Apple Intelligence looks up what you're pointing at. You can then do a visual search of whatever is in front of the camera or tap an Ask button to send the query to ChatGPT. In Apple's examples, a person snapped a shot of a restaurant to get more information and check its operating hours and then looked up the breed of a passing dog.
You can invoke Apple Intelligence by using the Camera Control button and, in this instance, learn more about a restaurant.
In iOS 18.3, you don't even need to snap the picture for some features. When you point the camera at a plant or animal, Visual Intelligence attempts to identify the subject on screen with a badge at the top of the screen. Tapping it brings up more detail.
Due to a sad lack of animals in my office, I had to point the phone at photos of animals, which it still attempted to identify.
In the same fashion, pointing Visual Intelligence at printed event details, such as "Concert on Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m." will create a calendar event with those details, saving a lot of typing on your part.
Camera Control is exclusive to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. For more on what's new in the iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods, see our full coverage of Apple's September event.