Here is how I have Control Center set up on my iPhone 17 Pro:
At the top, I’m using the stock Connectivity and Now Playing controls.
Down from there are switches for Silent Mode and Orientation Lock. I don’t touch these very often, but want them handy for when I need to hear my phone or rotate it into landscape mode. Next to these two switches are slides for Screen Brightness1 and Volume.
I don’t use Focus Modes very frequently. Only Do Not Disturb, Sleep, and Reduce Interruptions live behind that button. On the other hand, I use Alarms and Timers all the time, and like having an easy way to get to them quickly.
Up next are two actions. The first is built with Widgetsmith, tapping it fires an action within the app to go to my iMessage thread with my wife Merri.
The second is a simple Shortcut named Fast Tasks that lets me type into a box and have it land in my Inbox in Reminders, with a due date of today. This Shortcut is also tied to my Action button, and its name and icon are in honor of Casey’s now-retired app, Fast Text.
The last two rows are pretty straightforward:
- Screen Recording
- Recognize Music
- Quick Note
- Calculator — I use PCalc like a gentlemen for actual work; this is here for super quick things I don’t care about.
- Flashlight
- Low Power Mode
- A Shortcut named App Settings that jumps you to the Settings screen for the foreground app. I’m pretty sure Quinn Nelson built the version I’m using.
- Camera
- For the record, I use Light Mode during the day and let my phone switch to Dark Mode automatically at sunset. This is the same for my iPad, but my MacBook Pro is always in Light Mode. I use True Tone on my iPhone and iPad, but again, the Mac is left out since I am old. ↩