Samsung has started rolling out a new update that allows Galaxy S8 and Note 8 owners to disable the dedicated Bixby button. The update is aimed at preventing users of the Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note 8 from accidentally launching Samsung's digital assistant. However, there is still no way to reprogram that button to launch some other app.
Samsung debuted Bixby alongside the Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones in March this year. In order to push its adoption, Samsung even added a dedicated button on these handsets to launch the assistant. Samsung pitched Bixby as a digital assistant that is capable of answering common questions and replacing all touch-based actions with voice. However, at the time of launch, Bixby didn't support voice functionality and support was limited to English and Korean languages. Samsung delayed the launch of Bixby Voice until May and started beta access only in June with limited functionality. Last month, Samsung started rolling out Bixby voice feature for over 200 countries and it is expected to become available in India in the coming weeks.
At the time of launch, Bixby didn't support voice functionality and support was limited to English and Korean. Samsung delayed the launch of Bixby Voice until May and started beta access only in June with limited functionality. Last month, Samsung started rolling out Bixby voice feature for over 200 countries and it is expected to become available in India in the coming weeks.
Sammobile notes that the update allowing users to disable Bixby button is not available on every device and it is being rolled out slowly to eligible devices. The option to disable Bixby button will be a welcome addition but Galaxy S8 and Note 8 owners will be interested in remapping the button to a more useful app.