At the launch of its Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus flagship smartphones a few days ago, Samsung stressed a lot on the company’s own digital assistant – Bixby , that the two handsets come with. The assistant is deeply integrated with the smartphones and their core services. S8 and S8 Plus duo even have a dedicated button to trigger Bixby with one click.
Now, a user has found a way to remap the button so that it can be used to perform any other function such as launching Google Assistant , turning on Bluetooth and more.
The process has been explained by a YouTube user named Dylan Bertwell in a 16 second video.
The accompanying description reads;
“I found a third party app that will make the Bixby button change its function and do whatever you want it to do. In this video, I’m showing the Bixby button opening Google Now instead of Bixby.”
How to remap Bixby button in the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus
XDA-Developers website says that Bixby button can be remapped to open other applications using a free-to-download app. Dubbed ‘All-in-one Gestures’, the app needs the user’s permission to modify system settings.
Step 1: After launching the app, swipe to the left and enable the ‘Hard Keys’ option. The screen will then display a prompt asking you to ‘enable All in one Gestures’ Accessibility Service’.
Step 2: Tapping on the option will take you to the Accessibility Settings screen. Here, you can search for ‘All-in-one gestures’ under the Services section and toggle it ‘On’.
Step 3: In the app, tap on the menu button placed at the top right corner. Here, go to Custom Keys > Add Custom key. Once the dialog box appears, tap on the Bixby button. Now, since the key has not been mapped, it would launch Bixby
Step 4: You’ll have to press the Back button to get to the app. There, a key code field will show a four-digit number. Tap on the ‘Add’ option.
Step 5: Once added, the #code can be seen under the Custom Keys tab. Press the circle box besides the #code and choose the action you want to trigger using Bixby button. Selecting ‘Voice Search’ will map the button with Google Assistant.[related-posts]
On a related note, a developer recently managed to run Bixby unofficially on the Galaxy S7 running Android Nougat. According to some rumors, the South Korean tech giant maya bring Bixby to other smartphones as well. Right now, the digital assistant is limited to its S8 and S8 Plus flagships.
source: TimesOfIndia
