SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 19, 2026, 02:08 (PST)
Apple’s Camera Control — the side control on iPhone 16 and newer models — can be configured to do more than snap photos, including opening apps like Instagram’s camera, launching Magnifier and triggering Apple’s Visual Intelligence tool that works with ChatGPT, TechRadar reported on Sunday. (TechRadar)
The renewed attention lands as Apple tries to make camera and AI features a reason to upgrade, after pitching the iPhone 16 as built around Apple Intelligence and rolling out more software-driven camera functions. “The next generation of iPhone has been designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up,” Chief Executive Tim Cook said at the iPhone 16 launch, while rivals including Alphabet’s Google, Samsung Electronics and Huawei push their own AI features in smartphones. (Reuters)
Apple’s iPhone user guide describes Visual Intelligence as a camera-based feature that can pull details about a business, identify plants and animals, translate or read text aloud, and create a calendar event from information on a poster. The same tools can also be applied to a screenshot, with an option to ask ChatGPT about what is on the screen, the guide shows. (Apple Support)
For users who want a faster shortcut, Apple says the Camera Control can be set to open the Camera, a QR code scanner, the Magnifier app or nothing at all, and can also be directed to a third-party camera app. TechRadar said it could be configured to open Instagram directly to its camera, depending on app permissions. (Apple Support)
Inside the Camera app, Apple says a light double-press on the control brings up an overlay of settings, and users can swipe along the control to pick options and adjust them. Apple also documents an AE/AF lock — short for auto exposure and auto focus — that can be enabled in Settings and held while shooting, and lets users choose whether one click or two opens the camera. (Apple Support)
Visual Intelligence can route questions to ChatGPT, but Apple says users may be prompted to enable a ChatGPT extension the first time they use it, and can also set it up in Settings under Apple Intelligence & Siri. Apple’s instructions say ChatGPT can be enabled without an account, though signing in is required to save requests to chat history, and users must meet the minimum age requirement in their country. (Apple Support)
The pitch is convenience, but the control is not a simple mechanical shutter. It blends clicks, light presses and swipes, and it can feel awkward until the gestures become muscle memory.
But the extra shortcuts come with trade-offs. Re-mapping the control can trip users up in a rush, and AI-based identification can misfire on what the camera sees or what a screenshot contains.
For now, the practical payoff is small time-savers: scan a code, pull up Magnifier, tweak settings like exposure — the control that changes how bright a photo looks — without digging through menus.
Apple’s bigger bet is that the camera shortcut becomes the front door for more Apple Intelligence features that start with an image, at a time when phone makers are fighting to make “point and ask” as common as “point and shoot.”
