GoKawiilZac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority
The buttons on smartphones don’t change very often. We’ve lost the physical home button, but other than that, it’s been consistent for a long time: A power key and volume buttons.
Lately, some companies have started to spice things up with new buttons dotted around their phones, and while some are great, dedicated AI buttons are not. After an extended period with the Motorola Razr Fold, I believe it’s high time Motorola (and others) killed off one of my least favorite smartphone trends.
There’s a right way to add new buttons
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I’m not against extra buttons on smartphones. The Plus Key on recent OnePlus phones is a good example. It can’t be remapped to do anything I want, but there are plenty of options, like toggling sound profiles, the flashlight, and other quick tools.
The best example is from the iPhone, though. Apple replaced the alert slider with the Action Button on the iPhone 15 Pro, and after using it for a while, I loved it. In an unusual situation, Apple provides a plethora of options that allow users to do almost anything with the Action Button, largely thanks to its integration with the Shortcuts app. When I used an iPhone for a few months, I assigned a long-press of the button to toggle between ANC and transparency mode on my Beats earbuds. It was fantastic.
And then there’s Moto’s way
Motorola’s AI Key, by comparison, has no redeeming qualities. You can use either a double-press or a long-press, but either can be assigned to only one of Motorola’s AI features: Update me and Summarizes recent notifications, which I don’t find particularly useful, especially since Pixels and newer Galaxy phones do this in the notification shade automatically. The Moto AI shortcut summons Motorola’s assistant, which isn’t nearly as useful as Gemini. The only one of these options I could see someone using is “take notes,” which is a shortcut to making a voice memo. If that’s something you do often, great, but it doesn’t warrant a whole button.
Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority
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