Use Air actions with your S Pen on your Galaxy phone
If you like waving your S Pen, we have good news for you. Your Galaxy phone’s Air actions let you control apps and use all kinds of commands – just by flicking the S Pen in certain directions! You can open apps, control music, browse through your pictures, and much more.
Note: Information provided applies to devices sold in Canada. Available screens and settings may vary for smartphones sold in other countries. App actions only work with certain apps, and the available commands vary depending on the app. Air actions are available on Galaxy Note series phones, the Galaxy S21 Ultra, and the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
By default, the Camera app will open when you press and hold the Pen button on the side of the S Pen for a few seconds. But if you would like, you can make a different app open instead.
Navigate to and open Settings, and then tap Advanced features. Next, tap S Pen, and then tap Air actions. Tap Hold down Pen button to. From here, you can choose an app to open when you hold down the Pen button.
When you are done, tap Back. You can test it out by holding down the Pen button on the side of the S Pen – the new app you chose should automatically launch on the phone.
By default, the Camera app will open when you press and hold the Pen button for a few seconds. But if you would like, you can make a different app open instead.
App actions are preset commands that come with certain apps, like Camera or Gallery. For example, flicking left or right in the Camera app will change the camera mode. Remember the available actions will vary depending on the app you are using.
Every compatible app comes with a few possible S Pen gestures that perform different actions. The gestures include flicking the S Pen:
- Up, down, left, or right
- In a clockwise or counterclockwise circle
To perform a gesture in a compatible app, flick your S Pen in the appropriate direction while holding down the Pen button on the side of the S Pen.
Like we said, the App actions only work with specific apps. But which ones are compatible? And which commands can you perform? No worries, there is an easy way to check all of your phone's App actions.
Open Settings, and then search for and select Air actions. Tap your desired app under App actions. Here you can see all of its default gestures. You can also view commands by opening a compatible app, and hovering your S Pen over the blue Air command icon. The app’s default actions will appear in a small window.
To customize the gestures, navigate back to the Air actions menu, and then tap your desired app. Tap your desired gesture (e.g. Single press), and select a new command.
Note: Anywhere actions are only available on the Galaxy Note20 5G, Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G, Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (with the S Pen Pro), and Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Anywhere actions are like Air actions, but you will have a little more freedom. You can use them… anywhere! In other words, you can use them on any screen and are not limited to specific apps. For example, the Up and down gesture will bring you back to the Home screen when you have an app opened.
Just press the Pen button on the side of the S Pen and then perform the appropriate action. Here are the default Anywhere actions you can perform:
- Left and back: Go to the previous screen
- Up and down: Go to the Home screen
- Right and back: Go to Recently opened apps
- Down and up action: Open Smart select to take a screenshot
- Shake: Open Screen write to draw on the current screen
Note: If needed, you can change the default commands for the Anywhere actions.
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