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The Action button is available on nearly every iPhone Apple sells, offering a quick way to access a feature, app or shortcut on your phone, just by pushing a button. It can be a flashlight, activate a smart home routine or let you access any number of custom shortcuts without having to unlock your phone and pick through apps. Apple added the Action Button on the iPhone 15 Pro as a replacement for the iPhone's original Ring / Silent switch, and it was an acknowledgement of sorts that lots of people keep their phones on silent anyway. Having a reassignable button was pitched as a "Pro" feature at the time, but much like the Dynamic Island, it came to all of Apple's other phones in short order, even the entry-level iPhone 16e. How to use the Action Button Apple You can use the Action Button for yourself on an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16e just by pressing or holding down the small button above the volume up and down buttons on the left side of your phone. By default, the Action Button will mute or unmute your text and ringtones. This fills the same role as the old Ring / Silent switch. Heading into the Settings app will let you reassign it to another task and you can silence your phone via the Control Center. How to reassign the Action Button to Flashlight Ian Carlos Campbell for Engadget Out of the box, Apple lets you assign the Action button to several different controls: Silent Mode (Ring / Silent), Focus (either a specific Focus or a menu that lets you pick each time), Camera (a specific mode like Photo or Video), Flashlight, Voice Memo, Recognize Music, Translate, Magnifier, Controls (a specific control from Control Center like Airplane Mode), Shortcut, Accessibility (toggling a specific accessibility feature) or do nothing at all. If you wanted to switch from the default, Silent Mode, to the Flashlight, you need to first unlock your phone. Then: Open the Settings app. Tap on "Action Button." From there, swipe through the different options until you land on Flashlight. To test that it worked, try pressing on the Action Button. You can use this same process to reassign the Action Button to any of the built-in actions Apple provides. How to make the Action Button open an app Ian Carlos Campbell for Engadget If you'd like to get a little more adventurous, you can also have the Action Button open a specific app on your phone. Let's say, for example, your go-to game on the iPhone is Balatro. You can have the Action Button automatically pull up Balatro whenever you press it. To set it up, you'll need your iPhone unlocked. Open the Settings app. Tap on "Action Button." Swipe through the options until you reach "Shortcut." Tap on "Choose a Shortcut..." Then tap on "Open App..." Then scroll until you find your chosen app and tap on it. This process works for any app on your phone, including features of specific apps, like if you wanted to jump directly into ChatGPT's Voice Mode or a new note in the Notes app. How to make the Action button activate a shortcut Ian Carlos Campbell for Engadget The Shortcut action works for more complicated Apple Shortcuts, too. Technically, any shortcut designed to be triggered by you choosing to activate it (as opposed to a time or location-based shortcut) works. There's a lot of interesting shortcuts out there, and plenty of custom ones you can make on your own, but to use a simple example, here's how you'd set the Action Button to start a Pomodoro timer. Open the Settings app. Tap on "Action Button." Swipe through the options until you get to "Shortcut." Tap on "Choose a Shortcut..." Tap on whatever shortcut you want activate. Press and hold the Action Button to make sure it works. In the case of the Pomodoro timer, you'll be prompted to choose how long you want the timer to last, and then you can tap "Done" to start it. Between lock screen widgets and app shortcuts, home screen widgets, and the Action Button, there's now multiple ways to check information inside of an app, adjust a specific setting or use specific functionality from the apps on your iPhone. It's confusing, but a good rule of thumb is that the Action Button works best for actions that you only need to enable once or binary, on / off features. Plenty of others things work, but at a certain point you'll want to be spending time in an app instead of futzing with the buttons on your phone.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/how-to-make-the-most-of-the-iphones-action-button-193038089.html?src=rss
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The Amazon Appstore will no longer be available on Android as of August 20, 2025. After that date, apps from the digital storefront "are not guaranteed to operate" on Android hardware; however, they can continue to be used on devices like the Fire TV and Fire Tablets. The Coins program, Amazon's virtual currency for some Appstore app and in-app purchases, will also end on that same date. Coins will no longer be available for purchase beginning today. The Appstore was Amazon's effort to get in on the app distribution game for Android. Third-party app stores have been a hot topic for the business world in recent years, with the owners of walled gardens insisting that everything is fair while the companies trying to get a share of the action for themselves insist that it's not. There have been mixed moves to address the question in the US government, while regions such as the EU have taken more decisive steps to increase competition. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-is-shutting-down-its-third-party-android-app-store-192047953.html?src=rss
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After announcing its plan to end third-party fact-checking in January 2025, Meta's crowdsourced replacement is finally starting to take shape. You can now join a waitlist to be a Community Notes contributor on Facebook, Instagram and Threads when the feature rolls out in the coming months. Contributors are expect to provide context via a note when a post on one of Meta's platforms "might be inaccurate or confusing," according to the company's sign-up page. Community Notes will be able to be added to "most public content across Facebook, Instagram and Threads" and must be 500 characters or fewer. Any note is also subject to Meta's Community Standards and the judgment of other contributors. Meta expects contributors to rate notes so that the correct context gets displayed under posts. To sign-up, you need to be based in the US, be over the age of 18, have a Meta account that's more than six months old and in good standing and have either a verified phone number or two-factor authentication. Meta says contributors will start to be taken off the waitlist once the Community Notes beta launches. The company hasn't given a hard date for the launch, but does mention that Community Notes will be phased in "over the next few months." Meta started testing Community Notes on Threads a little over a month ago. The feature, in name and basic functionality, is inspired by X's Community Notes, which originally launched in 2022 when the company was still known as Twitter. Community Notes and other crowdsourced pseudo-fact checks have been tested on Google platforms like YouTube and Search as well, and they all have the same general weakness. A crowdsourced answer doesn't come with the same guarantee of accuracy as one provided by someone whose sole job it is to be an impartial fact-checker. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/you-can-now-sign-up-to-be-a-contributor-to-metas-community-notes-feature-190814234.html?src=rss
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A day after it was reported that Denis Villeneuve's third Dune movie starts shooting this summer, developer Funcom announced that its open-world MMO Dune: Awakening arrives on May 20 for PC. You can even get a jump on your journey through Arrakis with a character creator that's available today. Dune: Awakening draws inspiration from Frank Herbert's novels and the 2020s films. (Sorry, no speedo-clad Sting in this one.) However, it takes some detours from the established canon. In the game's version of Dune's world, the Fremen have vanished, Paul Atreides was never born and Lady Jessica obeyed the Bene Gesserit's instructions to give birth to a girl. (In other words, she's a total square.) So, in addition to being a bit of a "What If?" version of the Duniverse, it gives the developers freedom to use familiar environments and characters without having to tread too closely to the lore of the books and films. Handy! Funcom Funcom says you start as a prisoner sent to Arrakis to investigate the Fremen's disappearance. "Following in the footsteps of the mysterious desert tribe, you will learn the true meaning of desert power as you rise from a nameless survivor to becoming an agent of the Atreides or the Harkonnen," the game blurb reads. The character creator you can tinker with today lets you tweak your hero's looks and choose their home planet, caste and mentor (Swordmaster, Bene Gesserit, Mentat or Trooper). True to Dune form, your protagonist will have to put their hand in the box and take the dreaded Gom Jabbar test. (Fortunately, your hand will be on a keyboard or controller, not inside a sci-fi torture test.) You can use your custom character when the full game launches. The tool also includes a benchmark mode, so you'll know whether you need to invest in new PC hardware to play the survival game when it arrives. Dune: Awakening launches on May 20 on Steam. It costs $50, and pre-orders will open soon. The game is also coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, but there's no release date for the console versions yet. You can check out the latest trailer below. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/dune-awakening-will-spice-things-up-on-may-20-184552623.html?src=rss
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Its been ten long years since Avatar: The Legend of Korra aired its final episode and over 15 years since Avatar: The Last Airbender bowed out. Now, finally, Nickelodeon has greenlit a sequel series and it sounds pretty awesome. Deadline reports that Avatar: Seven Havens will be a 2D animated 26-episode followup that chronicles the rise of the next Avatar after Korra. Franchise creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are developing the series, so we know it's in good hands. The plot sounds pretty dark. It seems the world has fallen into chaos following a cataclysmic event of some kind. The titular "seven havens" refer to a handful of small civilizations that have managed to weather the storm. Also, the next Avatar will be a female Earthbender. In this world, however, the Avatar is reviled and seen as a harbinger of doom instead of a hero. Thats an interesting twist. "This new incarnation of the Avatarverse is full of fantasy, mystery and a whole new cast of amazing characters. Get ready to take another epic and emotional adventure," DiMartino and Konietzko said in a statement. The premiere date and casting information will be released later in the year. We do know that the 26 episodes will be split into two books, or seasons, which is similar to how the original shows handled things. It remains to be seen if the series will cap out at 26 episodes or if thats just the first two chapters. Personally, I wonder if any aged Korra characters will show up. The announcement of Avatar: Seven Havens is just the latest news from the franchise. DiMartino and Konietzko are also working on a trilogy of animated movies, with the first one centering on an adult Aang and friends. That one hits theaters on January 30, 2026. Of course, the Netflix live-action adaptation of the original series still has two more seasons to go.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/theres-a-new-avatar-the-last-airbender-cartoon-coming-to-nickelodeon-182956881.html?src=rss
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