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What is S Pen air actions & how to use it with Galaxy S22 Ultra

Air actions control apps remotely by using the connected S Pen. By flicking or waving the pen in different directions, you can open apps, control music, take screenshots and much more. Find out about the different air actions you can use with the S22 Ultra and what to do if they aren’t working properly, below.

Please note: Air actions only work with certain apps, and available commands will vary depending on the app.

S22 Ultra S Pen air actions

Depending on whether you have the camera app open or a media app open, air actions allow you to perform different functions with a simple wave or click.

Long press of S Pen button: Open camera app
Single press of S Pen button: Take photo or play/pause media
Double press of S Pen button: Change from front to rear camera or skip to next track

To use a gesture action, you should hold down the S Pen button while performing the following:

Move S Pen left to right: Change camera mode or skip/rewind to next/previous track
Move S Pen up or down: Change from front to rear camera or turn media volume up or down
Draw circle clockwise: Zoom camera in
Draw circle Anticlockwise: Zoom camera out

Tip: After performing the zoom in gesture, hold the S Pen button down to keep zooming until you let go of the button.

The S Pen of S22 Ultra also adds five new gesture actions that work anywhere, regardless of which apps are running.

Left and right: Browse back
Right and left: Go to Recent apps
Up and down: Go to Home
Down and up: Smart select. You can use the S Pen to select an area and perform actions, such as sharing or saving. You can also select an area from a video and capture it as a GIF animation
Shake: Capture and Screen write. Capture screenshots to write or draw on them or crop an area from the captured image. You can also capture the current content and the hidden content on an elongated page, such as a webpage

Please note:

The S pen must be charged before you can use the S pen air actions feature.
If the S Pen is too far from the device, or if there are obstacles or external interference between the S Pen and the device, the S Pen will be disconnected from the device and the S Pen icon will turn grey.
To use the S Pen air actions feature again, connect the S Pen with the device by reinserting the S pen into the slot. The air action feature requires a distance of at least 10 cm from the device screen.

What to do if S Pen air actions aren’t working properly

If you are experiencing issues with S Pen air actions it may be that the S Pen permissions are not set properly, follow the steps below to enable S Pen air actions and nearby devices/physical activity permissions: