Here’s how to program the iPhone 15 Pro Action Button to trigger ChatGPT and make you look smarter

How to add ChatGPT to the Action Button: It’s all about shortcuts

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Apple’s decision to drop the ring/silent switch from theiPhone 15 ProandiPhone 15 Pro Maxand replace it with a newAction Buttonis proving to be a windfall for enterprising owners of thebest iPhones. The button can still function as its predecessor did, silencing the phone’s audible alerts and ringtones but this button can also do so much more.

There is an easy-to-access menu of presets that includes programming the button to control the flashlight, voice recording, open the magnifier app, and serve asa camera app shutter button, and we’ve covered some of these features before. However, it’s the introduction of Apple’s Shortcuts app that takes the Action Button to the next level of choose-your-own-adventure utility.

Like the Action Button, Shortcuts can serve as a faster and more customizable way of accomplishing one or more tasks on your iPhone. And when you combine a custom Shortcut with the Action Button, it can be one-press magic.

There are, it turns out dozens of apps that already have pre-built Shortcuts that can work with the new Action Button, including your song-list management toolMusic Library Tracker, the to-do list app Streaks, Starbucks (a cup of coffee just a button press away), and even the AIchatbotChatGPT.

Here, we’ll walk you through how to set up theChatGPTshortcut for the Action Button. The good news is that most of these steps are applicable to any app that already supports an Action Button Shortcut.

Let’s get to building a ChatGPT Action Button shortcut that will trigger the start of a ChatGPT query and, if you have aChatGPT Plusaccount, a voice conversation with your favorite Large Language Model AI.

Tools and requirements

Steps for how to program the iPhone 15 Pro Action Button to trigger ChatGPT queries

Step by step guide

Install ChatGPT

Open the App Storeandinstall OpenAI’s ChatGPT app. Follow the steps toregister(it’s free unless you want to run ChatGPT Plus, which is how you would access the ChatGPT Voice feature).

Create new Shortcut

If you don’t already haveApple’s Shortcut app installed. Download it from the App Store.

Next,open the appandchoose the “+” signnext to “Select” in the upper right-hand corner. That will begin your shortcut creation journey.

Build a new Shortcut

In the New shortcut screen,choose the “New Shortcut 1"label and from the dropdownselect “Rename”.

Choosea pithy and memorable name that includes the name of the appthat’s getting the shortcut. In our case, it’s ChatGPT, so we named the Shortcut “ChatGPT Answerbot”.

Add an action to the Shortcut

Select the large"Add Action"button.

Find the ChatGPT app

Selectthe “Apps” tab

Select the ChatGPT action

In this “ChatGPT” shortcut screen,choose “Ask ChatGPT”

If you are a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, choose “Start voice conversation with ChatGPT”

Close Shortcuts app

Select “Done"in the upper right-hand corner andclose Shortcuts.

Open Action Button settings

Select the “Search” button on your iPhone home screen and thentype in “Action Button”.Select the “Action Button” Settings optionthat appears.

Select Shortcut option

In the Action Button settings menu,swipe left or right to find the Shortcut optionand thenselect the blue button that says “Choose a Shortcut…”

Select ChatGPT shortcut

The ChatGPT shortcut you created will belisted in the “My Shortcuts"section.Select it.

Long-press Action Button

You’ll automatically be returned to theAction Button Settings menuwhere your newShortcut will be listed under “Shortcut”.

Now when you press and hold the Action Button it will automatically launch the ChatGPT app, straight to the query box.

ChatGPT Plus subscribers who created a Voice Conversation shortcut will automatically open to the app waiting for you to speak your query.

FAQs

Will the Action Button go directly to ChatGPT voice if I am a Plus member?

The free version of ChatGPT, which uses an older and less powerful LLM, does not include voice. So, even if you set up the Voice Shortcut, it will only open ChatGPT’s text interface.

If you do haveChatGPT Plus and the more powerful GPT-4, set up the Voice Conversation shortcut, and assign it to the Action Button. Pressing and holding the button will open up ChatGPT in listening mode. You will hear a voice and it will be listening for your query.

Final thoughts

As we mentioned above, you can use most of these steps to add Action Button shortcuts for a wide variety of apps. Basically, instead of choosing ChatGPT, you might choose the weightlifting appLift’n', or the linksave appGoodLinks. Yes, the idea of a single button press to order an expensive cup ofStarbuckscoffee does hold some appeal but we prefer, for now, to gain quicker access to the world of artificial intelligence.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

You might also like

Follow TechRadar on TikTokfor news, reviews, unboxings, and hot Black Friday deals!

A 38-year industry veteran andaward-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.

Lance Ulanoffmakes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, theToday Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC.

A newly reported iPhone phenomenon could be bad news for both cops and robbers

The iPhone 18 series could include a variable aperture, ‘significantly enhancing’ the camera

How to turn off Meta AI