Dumbing Down The Camera Control on iPhone 16

Now that the iPhone 16 has been out for a while, I’ve heard from several listeners and readers who are unhappy with the Camera Control on their iPhone 16 model. Specifically, many of you get accidental triggers or accidentally get into the photos settings when you only want to take a picture. I’ve got to admit, it hasn’t been that hard for me. I like the advanced features, but if they drive you nuts, you can turn them off.

Go to the Settings app, Accessibility, and you’ll find Camera Control. Under the Controls Gesture section, toggle off both Light-Press and Swipe. That’s it. You’re good. Now, Camera Control activates the camera and takes a picture, nothing more.

I know Apple continues refining the Camera Control’s sensitivity with software updates, so I recommend turning the advanced features back on occasionally to see if they get easier to use for you. They are pretty nice.

The More Repairable iPhone 16

The iFixit teardown of the iPhone 16 is interesting. Apple is continuing to creep towards better repairability each year.

A constant problem for folks who like to crack their phones open is glue. Specifically, there’s a lot of adhesive inside these devices, and getting rid of it to do any repair is time-consuming and messy. Apple solved that with the battery in the new iPhone by using electrically activated adhesive. You apply a low-voltage current to it, and the battery pops out. It’s an interesting technology that I didn’t even know existed.

If you’d like to learn more about what’s inside your phone, check out the full iFixit video below.

Austin Mann’s iPhone 16 Pro Review

Austin Mann is back with a definitive review of the iPhone 16 Pro camera system. He took last year off, and I’m really glad to see him back this year. He took the new iPhone 16 Pro to Kenya, where he took more than 10,000 photos and logged over 3 terabytes of ProRes footage, all with this new camera system. His review is full of great examples and commentary.

It’s remarkable what kind of shots and videos you can get when you put this technology in the right hands. Check out Austin’s review to improve and understand your iPhone photography better.

A Few Thoughts Following Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” Event

Today Apple announced its latest crop of Apple Watches, AirPods, and iPhones. Here are a few thoughts.

The Video Events

Apple has perfected these video presentations. There are so many nice small touches throughout the videos and I like the way they are featuring bits of the Bay Area beyond Apple Park.
Another thing about these video presentations is how information dense they are. So much information comes at you so fast. No more silly demos.
That said, I still miss the anything-can-happen tension of the live events. These million-dollar executives should have to sweat once in a while. Although I expect actual live events from Apple are a thing of the past.

Apple Watch Series 10

The thing about Apple Watch saving lives is real. I know two people that experienced that. I’ve heard more from my audience. That’s got to feel pretty great if you work on the Apple Watch.
The new design doesn’t look like the revolution we’d been hearing about. Thinner and bigger but, generally, the same.
I’m relieved they didn’t change the band system.
80% battery in 30 minutes. Nice.
The Sleep Apnea feature looks to be a nice improvement. The white whale, however, remains blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring.
I love that they brought titanium back to the standard Watch. It’s such a great case material. Strong and light.
I’m not a fan of polished titanium. Well, I’m generally not a fan of any polished metal. They show so many more scratches than other finishes. I’m guessing they wanted the titanium watches to look different from their aluminum variants.

Apple Watch Ultra 2 (again)

There were last-minute rumors that there would not be an Apple Watch Ultra 3 but instead a black variant of the Ultra 2 and that’s what we got.
I know a lot of folks are going to love this, but I prefer the natural titanium. Looks like I’ll be holding on to my Apple Watch Ultra another year. It’s still doing great.
It seems odd to me that the Ultra didn’t get a proper update this year. Now it’s behind the standard (and less expensive) Apple Watch Series 10. I don’t think they are backing away from the Ultra (I see them on people’s wrists everywhere) but maybe something went wrong in development?

AirPods 4

This feels like a substantial update to the standard AirPods. A lot of the features from the AirPods Pro trickled down this year and that’s great. Increasingly the AirPods are tiny computers in our ears.
There are a lot of people that don’t like the fit of the AirPods Pro. This will bring them a lot of the Pro features and at a lower price.
This is the first time there have been two flavors of standard AirPods in the same release. The Active Noise Cancellation version will run another $50.

AirPods Max

New colors and a USB-C port for charging. That’s about it.

AirPods Pro

AirPods Pro 2 as Hearing Aids: This is one of those great angles that only Apple seems interested in. Create a consumer technology and then use it to solve a health problem. Granted, they are awfully big for hearing aids, but a lot of people can benefit from this feature.
Note that they also are now doing hearing testing, which will also be a big deal.

iPhone 16

The new iPhone looks great. I prefer the stacked lens layout.
Apple continues to push the envelope on unbreakable glass. I’d love to see some scientific tests against the different glass iterations Apple’s used over the years.
I haven’t heard any blowback from members or listeners about the bigger size. I still wish they made a small one every year.

The New Camera Control Button

I hd hoped that this button would be programmable, but it sure seems dedicated to the camera based on the presentation.
There are a lot of camera controls once you master the new button. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it.
The combination with the Apple Intelligence looks interesting. I didn’t expect that.

iPhone 16 Pro

I was in the MacSparky Labs Discord during this event and there was a lot of talk about how the big difference every year is just the camera. But the fact is that cameras improvements sell phones.
That said, I am looking forward to an improved Ultra Wide lens.
“The Largest iPhone Display Ever” plus the ever shrinking bezels will be fun to test. It seems like Apple is leaning into something with the way it’s increasing screen sizes across the board.
I think all that talk about improved microphones is as much aimed at Apple Intelligence as anything else. The better the voice input, the better AI result.
There are some big claims about the increased battery life (33 hours on the Pro Max!). I’m looking forward to testing that.

The Apple Intelligence Sales Job

They spent a lot of time talking about Apple Intelligence. That’s probably necessary given the market pressures. But these promises for an undelivered product also raise the stakes. Ultimately, there has to be more than hype behind Apple Intelligence, and soon.

Pondering the iPhone 16 Capture Button

If the rumors are to be believed, with the upcoming iPhone 16 announcement Apple will introduce a new capture button that will be added to the phones across the line (both pro and non-pro models). The tea leaves also say that this new capture button will be mechanical, not capacitive, but that it may be touch-sensitive. This is so it can detect, for instance, swiping across the button as opposed to pressing it.

After a year with the Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro, I can tell you I am sold on these additional buttons. I’ve programmed my Action button to be context-sensitive to my current Focus mode. If I’m in Work Focus mode, pressing the button does different things than when I’m in Personal Focus mode or Disneyland Focus mode. (Yes. I have a Disneyland Focus.) In most modes, the Action button gives me a menu of options. In Disneyland mode, it just takes a picture. So, adding an additional button makes it that much better in my mind.

However, what we haven’t heard from the rumors is whether this physical button will be programmable. While I have no problem with Apple making the default behavior of the capture button to take a picture, I admit I would be disappointed if it wasn’t programmable. Not everybody wants to take a picture. Maybe for some people, “capture” means adding an item to their task list or recording a voice memo, or, in my case, triggering a customized shortcut that does all sorts of cool tricks. While I suspect a large percentage of people will use a capture button just to take photos (and by “large percentage” I mean over 90%), I hope Apple makes that button programmable for the rest of us.