Samsung will allow buyers of its new Galaxy S10 smartphones to use the Bixby key to open whatever app they want. The Verge has confirmed that with the S10, the company has added settings that allow you to customize the button beyond what has been allowed previously. You can assign the Bixby button to open a third-party app with either a single or double press of the button. Whichever option you don’t assign to a different app will continue to open the Bixby feed. So for example, if you choose to open Instagram, Google, Spotify or some other app with a single press, a double press will trigger Bixby. Holding down the button still opens Bixby voice no matter what. This addresses the biggest complaint about Samsung’s dedicated hardware button for its virtual assistant. If you prefer Google Assistant or just rarely ever bother with Bixby, now you can have the button open the apps you use constantly. Before the S10, the Bixby button was always just there, and users had to turn to third-party apps to reassign it. Unfortunately, this setting is not yet available on last year’s Samsung Galaxy S9 and Note 9, which were just updated to Android 9 Pie and One UI. The Verge has reached out to Samsung for comment on whether the native remapping function will be rolled out to older phones. If so, hopefully it will be done sooner than later with an update to Bixby’s software.<doc-sep>If you have a Galaxy S10, Note 9, or any other Samsung phone running Android Pie, you can now remap the physical Bixby button to open up another app that's not Bixby. This is a feature we've been waiting for since the Galaxy S8 came out two years ago, and now that it's here, people seem eager to really start taking advantage of the newly customizable button. Here's what some AC forum users are using it for. What about you? What are you remapping Bixby to? Join the conversation in the forums!<doc-sep>How to remap Bixby to Google Assistant on the Samsung Galaxy S10, Note 9, and other One UI devices At Samsung Unpacked, Samsung announced their new Samsung Galaxy S10 series and Galaxy Fold. After the press discovered a new option in Bixby, Samsung confirmed that the button would be natively remappable. With an update released to the Bixby app on older One UI devices today, this is finally possible. However, it wasn’t all good news. Samsung is limiting the apps you can launch with the button. That means the Bixby button can’t natively launch Google Assistant, but we have a solution. Samsung blacklisted other assistant apps from being able to be used by the button. That includes Amazon Alexa and Microsoft Cortana along with Google Assistant. We were able to get around this by using a Tasker script and exporting it as an APK. This means all you need to do is install the app, select it in the settings, and choose Google when you press the button. This app also supports more than just Google Assistant. We were able to also launch the Cortana app, but it doesn’t work with Amazon Alexa. In theory, any app that supports answering voice commands can be remapped to the button with this method. Any phone that supports Bixby button remapping, including the Galaxy S10/S10+/S10e, Galaxy S9/S9+, and the Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy Note 8 will support using Assistant. Remap Bixby with Bixby Button Assistant Remapper Download the Bixby Button Assistant Remapper APK Install the app Open Bixby Voice Settings Select Bixby key Choose Double press to open Bixby Select Use single press Toggle it on and tap the gear icon to choose an app Find Bixby Button Assistant Remapper and select it Press the physical Bixby button and select the assistant app you want to use (click always so it doesn’t ask every time) That’s it! It is also possible to do this without the required app by setting up a Bixby quick command. You just set a quick command to “open assistant.” I would recommend the app method, though. In my testing of the quick command, it wasn’t as fast and it only worked around 20% of the time. Other users have reported very reliable results, so your mileage may vary. Remap Bixby to Google Assistant with Quick Commands Open up Bixby Voice Go to Quick Commands in the Bixby dropdown menu Create a new Quick Command and call it “Assistant” Set Quick command word or phrase to “assistant” Select “Type a command” In this setting, type “open assistant” Save this Quick Command Go to Bixby Voice Settings Select Bixby Key Select Double press to open Bixby Select Quick Command Go to Quick Command options and select “Assistant” That’s it! It’s nice that Samsung is finally letting users remap the button to something else on the Galaxy S10, Galaxy Note 9, and other One UI devices. While you can’t fully disable Bixby, you can relegate it to a double-press and put your preferred app to the forefront. Hopefully, Samsung doesn’t do anything in the future to break this workaround.<doc-sep>
Since the Galaxy S8, Samsung has included a physical button to activate its Bixby digital assistant on its flagship phones. And for just as long, Samsung users have been asking for a way to program the button to do something else — something they'll actually use — like launch another app or activate a smarter digital assistant such as the Google Assistant. Now, with the introduction of the Galaxy S10 family, Samsung finally caved to the request — sort of. Ahead of the S10's global release on March 8, Samsung's updated phone review units (including ours) with a new setting that lets you change the function of the Bixby button. Prior to the update, a single press on the Bixby button would activate Samsung's digital assistant. However, after the update, if you hop into the settings app and then into the "Advanced features" section, you'll find a new setting within the "Bixby key" menu to program the physical button. Users are given the options to program the Bixby button to open another app or command shortcut with a double press. Alternatively, you can program the key to open Bixby with a double press and another app or shortcut with a single-press. But here's the catch: Unfortunately, users will not be able to program the Bixby key to open the Google Assistant in place of Samsung's crappy voice assistant. Trust us, we tried and the Assistant doesn't show up as an option. Every other app can be mapped to the Bixby key, but not the Google Assistant. Yeah...there’s no way to map the Bixby button on my S10+ to Google Assistant even if you have the app installed. Any other app will work tho. Womp womp! #galaxys10 pic.twitter.com/O9uXKyM8Tw — Raymond Wong📱💾📼 (@raywongy) March 1, 2019 It makes sense Samsung wants users to use Bixby instead of a competing digital assistant. And Bixby has improved quite a bit since its introduction in 2017, but it's still nowhere near as intelligent or reliable as Google's Assistant. We've reached to Samsung to get an official answer on why they're snubbing the Google Assistant and will update this story if we receive a response. Still, Samsung's at least listening to its users. For now, you'll at least be able to map the key to open another app, like Instagram or Twitter, as you can with a BlackBerry's "convenience button." Maybe Samsung will come around to the Assistant... eventually.