Slashdot: Samsung Finally Lets You Disable the Bixby Button Without a Third-Party App

Samsung Finally Lets You Disable the Bixby Button Without a Third-Party App
Published on September 18, 2017 at 04:00PM
Samsung has released an update to allow you to disable Bixby on the Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note 8. The only problem is you can only disable the button and can’t point it to another app. Android Police reports: As you’re probably aware, there are two parts to Bixby — Bixby Home and Bixby Voice. The main change here is to the Bixby Home shortcut; press the button and Bixby appears. After updating, a toggle is available under the settings gear at the top of Bixby home. Turn it off, and Bixby Home will no longer pop up when you tap the button (there’s also a “Bixby Key” menu in the settings). Bixby Voice can be shut off in the settings as well, so the button will become completely inert. What if you want Bixby Home back? If you still have Bixby Voice turned on, pressing and holding the button will trigger Bixby on top of your current screen. You can open full screen mode and access your Bixby settings to turn Bixby Home back on at any time. Okay, but what if you also have Bixby Voice turned off in the Bixby settings? It seems at first like you’ve locked yourself out of Bixby, which might not be a problem for some people. However, you can access the Bixby settings by going into your main system settings — Apps — Bixby Home — Mobile Data — View app settings. That opens the Bixby settings without opening Bixby first.