action button

The  action button  is a UI element introduced by Apple in iOS as a way of representing doing something with the current page or piece of content with some other application. It has expanded in meaning to be a catchall for any secondary menu items or a method for simplifying the primary set of actions / buttons on a page or piece of content.


 * http://www.human-friendly.com/assets/icons/action_icon-2da1ca4aa3599bbf453ba22a81c0e038.jpg - up through iOS6
 * ... need button for iOS7-8

Comparison:
 * http://www.mobilexweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/share.png

Related Share Icons
The action button is often used to mean "share", which is also represented quite differently on other systems:

http://g.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/inline-large/inline/2014/06/3031872-inline-screen-shot-2014-06-12-at-62305-pm.png

Criticism
The iOS7+ action button looks too much like "upload":

http://d.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/inline-large/inline/2014/06/3031872-inline-screen-shot-2014-06-12-at-62320-pm.png

Articles
Blog posts and articles about the action button.
 * 2014-01-27 Erin Jo Richey: UI Icons that Drive Me Crazy / The Action Button