Like a well - chosen keyboard shortcut , a button compounding can save you some serious time on your speech sound — whether you want to click a photo , establish a digital help , or take a screenshot . What you might not bonk is that you may shift these clitoris combinations to suit your own needs .

We ’re mostly talking about Android here , which is unsurprising given Apple ’s indisposition to let third - political party apps really grok late into the fundamental workings of the iPhone . The best you get on iOS is the Change with Buttons toggle switch substitution in Sounds & Haptics in preferences , which lay out whether the book button deepen the overall audio volume level or just the volume level of calls and alert .

On Android , it ’s a different story , both in price of what you’re able to do using the OS that comes with your phone , and what you’re able to do with some third - party software program . We ’ll cover both remapping options here .

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Photo: Gizmodo

Remapping Android buttons with third-party apps

You ’ve got a few options for third - party apps . First , and this is perhaps our best-loved , isButton Mapper : To begin with , you need to give it admittance to Android ’s accessibility framework , which gives it the license it demand to work properly , and then you ’re ready to bulge out customise .

The app lists all the push on your gimmick , so that ’s typically the volume release and , if you have them , the button on a connected pair of headphones . You might also see extras like Active Edge , if they ’re endorse by your phone . There ’s no option to remap the power button though — it ’s just not possible on Android .

To change what a button does , tap on it then pick your favorite office . Available option include going to the nursing home screen , move back a sieve , returning to the last app , taking a screenshot and work the flashlight on . you may also mute your earphone , skip over through audio tracks , or launch something in Tasker ( which lets you automate a variety of task on Android ) .

Screenshot: Gizmodo

Button Mapper.Screenshot: Gizmodo

Separate activity can be set for a single pat , a two-fold tap , and a long wardrobe on each push button . If you ’re fain to pay $ 3 to unlock the Pro version , the app gives you admittance to a few more clit choices ( mostly of interest to developers ) and a pocket sensing feature that contain push getting spark while your phone ’s in your pouch .

So , to give you one example , you could tapdance loudness Up , then Customize , then forked tap to choose an action — Mute volume , maybe , or Split screen . The newly remapped function stays in topographic point until you change it again , change state customization for the release off , or uninstall the app from your sound .

Besides the lack of access to the great power button , the app is restricted in that remapping wo n’t turn while the screen is off , unless you ’re inclined to use some developer tools on your information processing system to get deep hooks into Android — you may happen instructions for thathere .

Screenshot: Gizmodo

Button Mapper.Screenshot: Gizmodo

Buttons Remapperis also deserving a look and work along similar product line to Button Mapper . In this app , you demand to tap the Plus picture ( lower right ) to set off remapping , then choose your key and the action that ’s connect with it . Again , there ’s a lengthy list of actions available , from launching the web web browser to change the screen luminousness .

Like Button Mapper , Buttons Remapper can handle short and prospicient presses , but it does n’t do double water tap . Unlike Button Mapper , this app can remap software buttons as well as ironware buttons , and it can also put up combinations of fundamental press — though that last feature requires a $ 1 one - off upgrade .

Everything considered Button Mapper is the friendly and slightly more comprehensive of the two apps , though Buttons Remapper has some unparalleled tricks up its sleeve that Button Mapper ca n’t do . There ’s no injury in giving them both a endeavor . Just perhaps not at the same time , lest your machine get fox .

Screenshot: Gizmodo

Buttons Remapper.Screenshot: Gizmodo

If your gimmick has a consecrate Google Assistant button , thenAssistant Shortcutswill let you remap that specific clitoris to something else if you ca n’t already do it natively ( also some Samsung and LG devices do n’t play nicely with the app ) . If it works on your phone , it ’s a up to option to have .

There is a caveat , which is you need to set Assistant Shortcuts as your actual adjunct app on your phone , supersede Google Assistant . If you prefer to do this though , you may do everything from spread up the notification dialog box to strike a quick note with the consecrate button on your equipment .

We also care the look ofKeyboard / Button Mapper , though it ’s still in the former stages of developing and has n’t yet been officially released . As well as remapping the hardware buttons on your phone , it can also work with connected keyboard , and a long list of triggered action are include . It ’s one to keep an optic on while it ’s develop .

Screenshot: Gizmodo

Assistant Shortcuts.Screenshot: Gizmodo

Remapping Android buttons with built-in options

The Android OS that come in with your phone may well have some remapping options build into it . If you ’re using a recentSamsung phone , for illustration , you could remap the Bixby button : from configurations intercept Advanced features then Bixby key . option include using the button to plunge a quick statement inside Bixby , or another app entirely .

If you ’ve perplex a Pixel earphone with Active Edge capability , you’re able to handicap or modify the power play - to - launching action mechanism by head to configurations and opt System , Gestures , and Active Edge . you’re able to squeeze to launch the Google Assistant , or to hush your phone . Those of you on HTC handset , where the feature is called Edge Sense , can make changes via Edge Sense then Customize hug action in configurations .

OnePlus gives you several options in its own OxygenOS variant of Android — you may , for example , use a quick pressing on the power clit to launch the Google Assistant . To see the useable options , which include software system key customizations , open setting on your phone then choose Buttons & gesture .

Screenshot: Gizmodo

Active Edge on the Pixel phones.Screenshot: Gizmodo

You ’re out of fortune if you ’re using an LG handset though ( at least as far as native selection go ): The dedicated Google Assistant button that recent LG phones come with ca n’t be remapped . you may turn it off the functionality if you definitely do n’t want to use it though — from setting take Extensions and then Shortcuts to find the options .

The most common alternative function for the volume push button is of course to take a photograph in photographic camera mode , and most Android earpiece will let you correct this mount . On broth ( Pixel ) Android , if you solicit More , options , and then Gestures on the camera projection screen , you may aline what the volume key do with a press or a double rap ( switching between front and back camera and zooming are among the pick ) .

This may well be dissimilar on whatever handset you occur to be using , such is the variation in Android devices : On recent Huawei handsets , if you tap the sprocket icon on the camera projection screen to bring up its configurations , you may go to Ultra shot and then configure the loudness buttons to take photos from the lock screen .

Screenshot: Gizmodo

Huawei button options.Screenshot: Gizmodo

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Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

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