The Galaxy S8 heralds a change in smartphone design with its newly-enlarged screen, tiny bezels, and complete lack of a physical home button.
But the phone’s new features aren’t limited to the aesthetic, with the latest hardware packed inside that nicely curved chassis, along with a few software additions to top it all off.
And one of those new additions is Samsung’s own take on the digital personal assistant and rival to Siri and Google Now: Bixby.
Related: Galaxy S8 Plus
The Bixby assistant comes with a load of clever abilities, such as using the phone’s camera to identify an object and find the best price online for that item, as well as the usual helpful suggestions and updates.
And for those who don’t want to yell some awkward ‘OK Google’-type phrase to get the thing going, Sammy helpfully added a physical Bixby button to the side of its Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus phones which will summon the assistant with one tap.
But YouTuber Dylan Bertwell, otherwise known as Reddit user Homeguy123, decided he’d prefer the button to be used for other purposes, following Marques Brownlee’s (@MKBHD) tweeted challenge to developers:
https://twitter.com/statuses/847115315863601152
The result is shown off in a YouTube video from Bertwell, which shows the physical Bixby button on the S8 being used to start Google Assistant rather than Samsung’s own version.
To be clear, Bertwell himself didn’t build an app to carry out this task, as he explains in the video description: “I found a third party app that will make the Bixby button change its function and do what ever you want it to do.”
The YouTuber downloaded the free app ‘All in one Gestures’ from the Google Play Store in order to change the button behaviour.
And if you’re intrigued as to how exactly this was done, there’s a full list of instructions over on XDA Developers, so when the S8 launches on April 28 in the UK (April 21 in the US), you’ll be able to follow Bertwell’s example.
Let us know if you’re bothered about Bixby or not in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
