The iPhone 16 series no longer requires a traditional camera button, but instead borrows the camera shortcuts commonly used on Android phones.
We know that the new camera control button on the iPhone 16 is not just a button for turning the camera on and off and taking photos, it also has the functions of pressure sensing and recognizing sliding gestures. In addition, this button is actually closely connected to Apple’s AI-driven Visual Intelligence mode.
Although the iPhone 16 series lacks innovation, many of its features are worth learning from for Android manufacturers.
While Apple hasn’t detailed how the camera control button and Visual Intelligence mode work together, we’ve learned that the new button will make it easier for users to access visual intelligence features, activating AI Vision mode with just one tap. This means that Camera Control will become a way to quickly launch the Visual Intelligence interface, and users can tell the system to analyze the scene in front of them by clicking a button. Unfortunately, Visual Intelligence won’t be available until later this year, so we haven’t been able to experience this feature yet.
In order to make AI tools more accessible, Google launched the Circle to Search feature. This tool simplifies the process of using Google Lens. Users only need to press and hold and circle the content on the screen to get search results, translated text and other information. Apple’s Visual Intelligence goes a step further and provides a more intuitive operation method.
Although new hardware cannot be directly ported to older iPhones, some functions of the camera control keys can be implemented on older devices. For example, features such as swipe gestures may be limited to iPhone 16 and later models, but some gesture controls can be adjusted and applied to older iPhones, at least making it easier to access the camera.
Older iPhones won’t support Visual Intelligence, but even so, Apple has provided users with a variety of convenient ways to access the camera. Similarly, for older iPhones, it should be possible to improve the access method of Circle to Search.
