It appears Samsung is totally against Galaxy S8 users remapping the dedicated Bixby, something a lot of users have done since the handset launched late April.
Samsung has prided on its proprietary digital voice assistant ever since it launched in some markets, but arguably, there has been very little for it to boast about, considering the assistant was half-baked upon rolling out, notably missing its voice control feature. It also didn't help that Bixby seemed no more functional than Google Feed or Google Assistant.
Naturally, some users wanted to remap the button presumably for better use, and they did. Then, Samsung attempted to block apps that let them remap the button, but crafty developers found a workaround not long after.
No More Bixby Button Remapping For Galaxy S8, S8 Plus Owners
Now, however, starting with the most recent T-Mobile update, Samsung has once again blocked users from doing the same thing. As Android Police reports, the developer of bxActions confirmed that T-Mobile Galaxy S8 users have reported that the June security update disabled the remap option.
Similar apps such as BixBye, Bixby Button Remapper, and Custom Bixby Button have all stopped working too. It seems Samsung has found out the developers' workaround and applied a workaround on top of that to disable any remapping functionality.
As it stands, only T-Mobile Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are affected. The option still works with other variants of the phone. The bxActions developer plans to find another workaround, so expect due coverage when he does, or for that matter, when other developers also manage to find workarounds.
The State Of Samsung Bixby
Samsung has recently delayed the launch of Bixby Voice further, which was supposed to roll out alongside the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus this past April. Bixby Voice is one key feature of the whole Bixby ecosystem, functioning like Apple's Siri and Google's Assistant by performing tasks based on a user's voice commands.
Reports have suggested that apart from needing to brush up on its English, Bixby still lacks the big data needed to power its deep learning technology to the fullest. If both points are true, then it might take a while before Samsung can confidently roll out Bixby Voice stateside.
It remains a question why Samsung has been cracking down on those who want to remap their Bixby buttons to perform something else. It's not like Bixby is fully functional at the moment, anyway, right? So why not just let them remap it for the time being?
Thoughts? Sound off in the comments section below!
