The iPhone 16 has a brand-new Camera Control button, as we learned at the Glowtime event earlier this week. And it's clearly making an impact as a few Android phones have already announced they want to imitate it.
One example is Chinese phone maker Nubia. Company president Ni Fei took to social network Weibo (via Android Authority) shortly after Apple's announcement to claim that the Nubia Z70 Ultra would adopt a "more realistic camera button" with a half-press-to-focus function. Such a button would build on the Nubia Z60 Ultra, which already has a sliding key that can be used to quickly open the camera or another app, but it couldn't be used to actually take photos.
This fits in nicely with an older report (again via Android Authority) from leaker Ice Universe about how Oppo's next-gen flagship Find X8 series may use a new "Quick Button." That certainly sounds like a camera shortcut but we don't get anything more concrete than that.
We can't bring up camera controls without talking about Sony phones. Sony has used camera buttons on its handsets like the Xperia 1 VI for years already, acting as Camera app shortcut and press-to-focus key as well as a shutter button. No doubt Sony feels vindicated for sticking with this feature, and perhaps we'll see future Xperia phones double-down on them.
Apple may have put its own spin on the idea of a dedicated camera button with its ability to adjust multiple settings and its incoming Visual Intelligence shortcut. But this is a long-standing concept that the iPhone, by virtue of being one of the most, if not the most, desirable phone brands in the world, has now brought new attention to. And it's going to be fascinating to see if this catches on more widely as a result.
You can learn more about our thoughts on the iPhone 16 Camera Control here, and our more general take on the new phones in our iPhone 16 hands-on and iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max hands-on. Expect full reviews from us very soon.
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