5 Things You Didn’t Know Your iPhone’s Power Button Can Do

The iPhone’s side button is pretty well-known as the power button, mainly because that’s what people usually use it for: turning the iPhone on and off and locking and unlocking the device. When you first get your iPhone, you boot it up with the side button. Whenever you need to restart your iPhone — maybe to fix a minor software glitch or just refresh your device, you can press the side button. You do the same thing every time you want to lock and unlock your iPhone.

What you might not realize, though, is that the iPhone’s side button can do more than just these basic controls. It might not be as customizable and highly capable as the iPhone Action Button and its many uses or Camera Control and its shooting features, but it’s far from being limited to power and lock controls. The iPhone power button can be used for several different things, from declining calls to activating background sounds. 

Nothing’s more annoying than a phone call from yet another spam number claiming you owe the IRS some taxes. The worst part is, they tend to call right when you’re in the middle of a meeting or in a study group in a library. Sure, you can always just tap on the decline button and reject the call. But it can come off as rude to be fiddling with your phone when you’re with other people. To do it discreetly, you can simply use the power button on your iPhone. You don’t have to even look at the screen — you simply feel the side button and press it.

To decline an incoming call, you need to quickly hit the power button two times. If you want to just mute the call instead of outright declining it, all you have to do is press the power button once.

If you don’t already know, your iPhone has a built-in setting that lets you play all sorts of background sounds like rain on the roof, ocean, and insects chirping at night. This is one of the lesser-known iPhone features but also one of the best tools for increasing productivity, especially for those who work better with white noise playing in the background.  

Normally, you can just add Background Sounds to your Control Center and turn it on and off from there. But if you prefer some tactile feedback and a quicker way to activate the background sound, the power button on your iPhone can actually trigger it with a triple-press. To configure your iPhone’s power button to enable and disable background sounds, follow this guide:

1. In Settings, head over to Accessibility.
2. Under Hearing, choose Audio & Visual.
3. Tap Background Sounds.
4. Toggle on Background Sounds and select the sound you like.
5. Now head again to Accessibility settings and find Accessibility Shortcut.
6. Using the three bars, drag the Background Sounds option to the top.
7. Make sure to check the Background Sounds button and unselect any unwanted options.

From here, try pressing the power button three times even if your iPhone is locked. Your background sound of choice should automatically start playing. If you set a timer, the sound will stop after the specified time. If you want to disable it manually, you can simply triple press the power button again.

Face ID is easily the most convenient way to unlock your phone. It works automatically and requires no manual input other than holding your phone normally, looking at the screen, and swiping up. But if you want to disable your Face ID temporarily for whatever reason — maybe for security purposes or just to see if you still remember your passcode, you can readily turn it off via the iPhone’s power button. Long-press the side button together with either the up or down volume button until you see the slider to power off your iPhone. Then, let go of both buttons and press the side button once. 

Now, when you try unlocking your iPhone, you’ll be prompted to enter your passcode instead. Just type it as you normally would. Your Face ID will automatically resume working right after, so the next time you lock and unlock your phone, you can use your Face ID again. 

For people with speech impairments or temporary or permanent loss of voice, the Live Speech feature on the iPhone can be a huge help. It works by converting the text you type into spoken words for the person you’re talking to. You can activate this useful iOS feature either from the Control Center (after adding it as a control) or from the Accessibility option in the Settings app. But there’s actually an even faster way to access the feature: through your iPhone’s power button. 

Here’s how to turn on and use the text-to-speech tool from the power button on your iPhone:

1. Launch Settings. 
2. Go to Accessibility. 
3. Under Speech, select Live Speech. 
4. Hit the toggle next to Live Speech. 
5. To customize the voice, tap Add Preferred Voice. 
6. Choose your language. 
7. Press the play button to hear a preview of the voice. 
8. Download your voice of choice.  
9. Tap on the downloaded voice again to use it for Live Speech. 
10. Go back to the Accessibility main screen. 
11. Under General, head over to Accessibility Shortcut. 
12. Select Live Speech. 

Now, you can quickly press the power button three times. Write your message in the text field that appears at the bottom of the screen and press Enter. Once you’re done using Live Speech, just hit the X icon to close the window. Live Speech also works while you’re on a FaceTime call. The person you’re talking to will hear the spoken words on their end.

Phones are the epitome of distraction. One minute you’re browsing through research articles on Safari, and the next minute you’re doomscrolling on Instagram. If you really want to get some work done and focus on just a single app, you can set your iPhone’s power button to keep you locked in that app. This feature is called Guided Access, and it can come pretty handy during moments that demand your full attention. Follow these steps to program your power button to start Guided Access:

1. Open Settings.
2. Navigate to Accessibility.
3. Under General, select Guided Access.
4. Toggle on Guided Access.
5. Choose Passcode Settings.
6. Tap Set Guided Access Passcode. This doesn’t have to be the same as your phone’s passcode.
7. To exit Guided Access with just your face ID, turn on Face ID.
8. Go back to the main Guided Access settings.
9. Enable Accessibility Shortcut.

Once everything is configured, launch the app you want to be locked in and hit the iPhone’s power button three times. Then, tap Start in the top-right corner to activate Guided Access. The app you’re locked into will still work like normal. You can navigate the in-app menus and type in any text field as you always do. You just wouldn’t be able to switch to a different app or even open the Control Center. When you’re done with the app, you can exit Guided Access via the power button again. Triple-press it, enter the passcode or show your face, and hit End.