Samsung is showing its fans how capable they are of listening. Since the arrival of the Galaxy S8 and following smartphones after it, the company had added the stubborn Bixby button which originally existed to activate Bixby and could not be used for any other purpose. After much complaints and criticism about the button by users, Samsung has finally gotten around to resolving the issue.
A new update was just released for the Galaxy Note 8 and the Galaxy S8 that stops the Bixby button from being exclusively used to activate Bixby Home. While the update has not yet been rolled out to all phones, the report claims that it will be moving slowly to supported devices. Before this, Samsung had denied access to users who wanted to change the button’s function, despite installing third-party apps. The button is located just below the volume down button, which also makes users press it by accident.
The update comes a month after Bixby is made available worldwide. As of now, only owners of the Galaxy S8, S8+ and the Note 8 will be able to deactivate the Bixby button. This way, users will not need to accidentally activate the service. With Bixby toggled off, users will only be able to bring forth Bixby by swiping left on the home screen. Using the hot word “Hello Bixby” will also activate Bixby, which will enable the AI to recognize objects, give weather updates as well as other regular activities that the assistant is known for.
Based on Ars Technica’s report, the company is not entirely removing the function of activating Bixby using its dedicated button. The virtual assistant can still be called upon if users press and hold the Bixby button. There is, however, no official way for users to switch the functionality of the button to perform a different task or function. While this new update is a welcome addition to Samsung’s line-up of flagship smartphones, this could be an indication that the company is now backing down on making Bixby the primary assistant of choice.
While Samsung is not letting users change the function of the button and merely disabling its primary function, this could serve as a double-edged sword as the button would, for most of the time, not be used. This may spark more criticism since the button could have instead been given the function to be re-mapped for different functions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWXIDwHTg-8
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