Samsung's virtual assistant Bixby has surpassed Apple's Siri and Google assistant in terms of hands free automations, thanks to excellent integration with Samsung One UI.
If you are a new Samsung Galaxy phone user, you might have been receiving several notifications on your phone to sign up for your Samsung account to start using Bixby on your phone and wandering it is worth enabling Bixby on your phone.
Let us answer all the queries on Samsung Bixby and why you must try it for the automations that will make your life much easier.
In this article:
What is Samsung Bixby?
Bixby is the Artificial intelligence enable assistant similar to the the Apple Siri ,Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. You can use it to perform various tasks, set reminders, ask questions and automate day to day tasks. The automations with Samsung Bixby are not limited to only Samsung apps but are also integrated with third party apps like Spotify.
Bixby is exclusive to Samsung devices and are integrated seamlessly with the Samsung settings and
Samsung launched Bixby in 2017 with the release of Samsung Galaxy S8 series. It had mixed reviews by the users in the beginning which inspired Samsung to release the updates with various improvements to make it more user friendly and integrate with the third party apps.
There has been a major improvements in Bixby starting from One UI 2.0 on Android 10 which has now evolved completely with One UI 3.0 release on Android 11. Samsung is investing heavily on Bixby which can be seen by the continuous roll out of the updates for Bixby starting from Jan 2021.
Below is the list of phones till date on which Samsung Bixby is available:
Galaxy Z Flip
Galaxy S21 range
Galaxy S20 range
Galaxy Fold 5G
Galaxy Note10 range
Galaxy S10,S10+,S10e
Galaxy S9, S9+
Galaxy S8, S8+
Galaxy Note9
Galaxy A90 5G
Galaxy A80
Galaxy A71
Galaxy A70
Galaxy A51
Galaxy A50
Galaxy A7 (2018)
Galaxy A9 (2018)
Galaxy J7+ (2017)
Galaxy J6 (2018)
Galaxy J6+ (2018)
Getting Started with Bixby
You will need to sign up for a Samsung account and login with it before you enable the Bixby on your phone.
You can activate Bixby voice by:
Pressing dedicated Bixby Key on left side of your Samsung Galaxy series S10 and lower.
Pressing Side key on right side (above volume button) starting from Note 10 and later models (like Note 20, S20, S21)
Enable the Bixby Vision by opening the camera of your phone. Click on More and then Bixby Vision.
Bixby requires the internet to operate.
What can Bixby do for you?
Quick Commands: Bixby can perform various actions in a sequence based on particular saved Quick command by you. For example, it can switch on the wi-fi, turn off mobile data and set the phone to ringer mode when you say "I am home"
Bixby Routines: Bixby routines are based on the conditions and actions and can also be categorized as automations. If a condition is met then Bixby will execute certain actions. For example, if you arrive at certain location (like workplace), it can set your phone in vibration mode and start the focus mode for work.
Bixby Voice: You can ask Bixby any questions like Siri/Google Assistant or can do the tasks for you. There are countless tasks based on the various capsules which is explained later in this blog. For example you can ask Bixby to call your friend by saying " Hey Bixby call John".
Bixby Vision: Bixby can now look for the things around you with your Camera app and provide the information on a particular thing or similar things related to that item. This is similar to Google lens.
Quick Commands:
Bixby lets you create a quick command and save it with a defined set of actions.
Samsung provides with a list of recommended most used quick commands to start with based on the users feedback.
You can access the quick commands inside Bixby by accessing Bixby menu and then clicking on Quick commands.
Explore all of these quick commands by clicking on the categories and check the actions which they can perform on these commands.
For example, you can add the quick command "Movie time" by clicking on the + icon and it will save this in your My commands.
So now if you are in a movie theatre watching a movie you can just say to Bixby " Hey Bixby movie time" and the Bixby will mute your phone, turn on Do not disturb and reduce the brightness of your phone.
Similar to the recommended Quick commands, you can create a quick command for yourself for example to send a good morning message with Bixby to your contact.
Bixby Routines:
Bixby routines are similar to quick commands in terms of actions however for this you don't have to talk or type to Bixby to execute the actions. Bixby will take care of it with the pre-defined If conditions in the saved routines.
The routines can be triggered based on the time, place, charging status, opening of app and many more conditions on your phone. Think of Bixby routines as the automations that you can enable on your phone without you to remember it every time. All you have to do is configure and save the routine once on your phone.
You can access the Bixby routines in your phone settings -> Advanced features-> Bixby Routines.
Similar to the recommended quick commands, you will land on to the Discover page of the Bixby routine which will suggest you the various useful adaptive, morning, bed time and media experience routines.
You can explore and enable the suggested routines or create a customized one for you manually in the Add routine section.
Most used routines by users like Driving routine and Before bed routines are already in the suggested routines by Samsung with all the required actions for these scenarios, however there are few automations which are still not in the suggested routines sections.
We recommend:
Bixby Voice:
You can ask Bixby almost anything like:
Information: Checking weather, playing news, listen to a song and identify it and much more.
Have fun: Ask Bixby to tell a joke, ask it to drop a Beat, translate a text etc.
Operate your phone: Ask Bixby to take a pro shot, set the alarm , call someone or read text message from someone.
Smart Things: Operate your smart devices. For example, Increase your Samsung tv volume, stop the air conditioner etc.
Navigate : Ask Bixby to navigate to home using google maps.
This is just few of the uncounted tasks that you can get out of Bixby. You can explore the list of tasks categories by checking out the Capsules of Bixby.
It will show you what all things you can get from Bixby for example using Bixby chat, Bixby translation, Gallery, Email and much more. You can get an idea from this and then can use these things in the Action section of the Bixby routines for the automations.
Is Bixby worth it and Safe?
You would have got an idea of the numerous tasks that Bixby can do for you with just a quick command or without even it with the routines enabled. So it is definitely a must use assistant to ease your life. The advantages of using Bixby are self explanatory like some of the below:
No need to unlock your phone every time for the tasks. Bixby can perform the tasks for you based on conditions or quick commands.
You don't have to type to search for an information on internet. Bixby does that for you.
No fuss of remembering to set reminders to change certain settings while travelling, Bixby routine takes care of that.
Bixby ensures your smart devices save energy while you leave your home.
Bixby is definitely better than the Apple Siri and the Google assistant in the automations with Bixby routines. It is so well integrated with the Samsung phone settings and smart devices along with the third party apps like Google Maps and Spotify which makes it the best assistant available on a smart phone till date.
However, the critics would always point out the privacy issues with Bixby usage. If you are one of the users which would like to keep it safe by not letting Samsung access your information, track your usage pattern and provide it to third party service provider to customize your user experience you might do not want to enable Bixby.
If you have already enabled Bixby and wants to disable it check the below procedure.
How to permanently disable Bixby?
You can get various articles on disabling Bixby by turning off Bixby routines, switching off Bixby voice wake-up and changing the Bixby button settings, however they are still the temporary methods of disabling Bixby which will not stop the data collection by Samsung for the customization services.
If you want to permanently disable Bixby, I would suggest you to log out of the Samsung account by accessing your profile in Bixby menu as shown below.
At the bottom of the screen, click on Sign out
The signing out of the Samsung account to disable Bixby will also delete and disable the below services:
Contacts profile
Samsung Cloud
Find my mobile
Samsung Pass