I Hate Bixby - You Hate Bixby - We All Hate Bixby

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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May 18, 1997
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I don't own a Samsung Galaxy S8, but I know I have heard all the furor over the Bixby button to nowhere. And while we usually do not post a bunch of Kickstarter projects, this one might be worth a look just on the merits (and hilarity of the angst) of the video promoting this new case that covers the Bixby button making it not accessible to accidental pressing. First world problems.

Bixby is such a nuisance that we considered returning our phones, but the S8 and S8+ have incredible performance, battery life, and aesthetic appeal. And thus, we present the Bixby-free case.
 
There's too many "voice assistants" and too many pay systems (Android Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, LG Pay, etc, etc).

This is one of those situations where too much choice will kill the market. Same with phone operating systems and PC operating systems. It needs to be narrowed down to just 2-3 options to be successful. All the 3rd party companies can't afford to support everything, they need to focus their resources on a few options only.
 
If the phone doesn't have a locked bootloader and allowed it to be rooted, then reflashing over with your favorite rom would easily do away with the issue of being forced to use certain built in apps.
Too many voice assistants isn't really a problem. The problem is that they don't really compete with one another and it's not possible (to my knowledge) to easily replace it with something else.
Same with the pay options. If there was a framework in which you could easily load in whichever pay system you wanted to (actual choice), then there would be clear cut winners and losers. As far as i know none of them work like that and it's down to whatever comes installed on your phone.
 
Hypergreatthing said:
If the phone doesn't have a locked bootloader and allowed it to be rooted, then reflashing over with your favorite rom would easily do away with the issue of being forced to use certain built in apps.
Too many voice assistants isn't really a problem. The problem is that they don't really compete with one another and it's not possible (to my knowledge) to easily replace it with something else.
Same with the pay options. If there was a framework in which you could easily load in whichever pay system you wanted to (actual choice), then there would be clear cut winners and losers. As far as i know none of them work like that and it's down to whatever comes installed on your phone.
Click to expand...

The voice systems DO compete with each other for 3rd party support. And the pay systems compete for retail POS system support. So there's everyone fighting for market space, and the consumers lose. With pay systems in particular, unless they come up with some good interoperability for retail systems quickly, they're going to kill the whole system.
 
If I had this phone I suspect I would mod it to actually remove the button but this case idea is a simple quick fix.
 
Bandalo said:
The voice systems DO compete with each other for 3rd party support. And the pay systems compete for retail POS system support. So there's everyone fighting for market space, and the consumers lose. With pay systems in particular, unless they come up with some good interoperability for retail systems quickly, they're going to kill the whole system.
Click to expand...
For the voice system, that's not real competition. Real competition would allow the people buying the phones to decide what they wanted on their phones,not how many apps they can integrate with.
With the pay systems, it should have been the credit card companies that came out with a standard that all mobile devices can use to interact with, then allow the developers to develop something that takes care of the transaction.
Now it's just a free for all with no standards. It's doomed for failure since the start.
 
I was on the fence over picking up the S8+ when the unlocked version came to Best Buy, but after learning more about the Bixby button I decided to skip an upgrade this year. Maybe the One Plus 5 will surprise me, but I doubt it. Here's hoping 2018 gives us a better selection or, at the very least, a culling of voice assistants.
 
To be honest i don't even know what bixby is.....i know its a Samsung product but have not clue what it is beyond that. I thought it was a UI.....now i'm confused.
 
SomeoneElse said:
To be honest i don't even know what bixby is.....i know its a Samsung product but have not clue what it is beyond that. I thought it was a UI.....now i'm confused.
Click to expand...
I didn't even know that much. I should ask Cortana.

So it goes.
 
SomeoneElse said:
To be honest i don't even know what bixby is.....i know its a Samsung product but have not clue what it is beyond that. I thought it was a UI.....now i'm confused.
Click to expand...

It's yet another voice assistant like 'Okay Google', Siri, Cortana, Alexa, etc. The Samsung UI is fortunately skinnable via launchers like Nova.
 
I have an S8+ and honestly it's not that hard to just ignore the button. I don't have issues hitting the power button or volume buttons when I don't want to either. Why are so many people finding it so difficult not to hit the bixby button?
 
GotNoRice said:
I have an S8+ and honestly it's not that hard to just ignore the button. I don't have issues hitting the power button or volume buttons when I don't want to either. Why are so many people finding it so difficult not to hit the bixby button?
Click to expand...

I agree that those who buy the phone deserve exactly what they get. Anyone who drops that kind of cash on anything should know exactly what it does and how to use it; however, on that same line of thinking, when I drop close to a grand on a phone, it should not have 'features' that I find to be annoying. To each his own.
 
Krixon said:
I agree that those who buy the phone deserve exactly what they get. Anyone who drops that kind of cash on anything should know exactly what it does and how to use it; however, on that same line of thinking, when I drop close to a grand on a phone, it should not have 'features' that I find to be annoying. To each his own.
Click to expand...
I'd say you're in the minority of people who actually does some research on the phone. I'd say the majority of Apple's success is people who want to upgrade without knowing anything about the product they're buying.
 
Hypergreatthing said:
For the voice system, that's not real competition. Real competition would allow the people buying the phones to decide what they wanted on their phones,not how many apps they can integrate with.
With the pay systems, it should have been the credit card companies that came out with a standard that all mobile devices can use to interact with, then allow the developers to develop something that takes care of the transaction.
Now it's just a free for all with no standards. It's doomed for failure since the start.
Click to expand...

Well, I think Android Pay and Apple Pay will win in the end. You can afford two systems in the market, but more may be challenging. Again, unless someone comes up with a universal standard for POS systems that the retailers can use.

I don't know where the voice market will go honestly. Now that it's being integrated into cars, and there's more and more "home speaker" devices rolling out, the market is going SOMEWHERE. I'd really rather see 2-3 "standards" there, and then a dozen manufacturer's making devices for them. Buy a Sonos table-top speaker that supports Alexa. Or a Samsung TV that works as a Google Home device.
 
Krixon said:
I agree that those who buy the phone deserve exactly what they get. Anyone who drops that kind of cash on anything should know exactly what it does and how to use it; however, on that same line of thinking, when I drop close to a grand on a phone, it should not have 'features' that I find to be annoying. To each his own.
Click to expand...

I've had the phone for months now and I've had bixby pop-up maybe twice that whole time, neither time as a result of the button being pressed. I'm seriously curious what the people who are having so much trouble with Bixby are doing to make it pop-up so often.

There have always been many "features" in Windows and other operating systems that I've been happy to ignore over the years also. Personally, I don't find dumb features that I never actually encounter to be annoying, but "to each their own".
 
GotNoRice said:
I've had the phone for months now and I've had bixby pop-up maybe twice that whole time, neither time as a result of the button being pressed. I'm seriously curious what the people who are having so much trouble with Bixby are doing to make it pop-up so often.
Click to expand...

My concern is not so much with hitting it while handling the phone, but rather while it is in a bag or pocket. Some of my disappointment also stems from the wasted potential. A customizable button would have made the phone an insta-buy for me.
 
Bandalo said:
Well, I think Android Pay and Apple Pay will win in the end. You can afford two systems in the market, but more may be challenging. Again, unless someone comes up with a universal standard for POS systems that the retailers can use.

I don't know where the voice market will go honestly. Now that it's being integrated into cars, and there's more and more "home speaker" devices rolling out, the market is going SOMEWHERE. I'd really rather see 2-3 "standards" there, and then a dozen manufacturer's making devices for them. Buy a Sonos table-top speaker that supports Alexa. Or a Samsung TV that works as a Google Home device.
Click to expand...
They already won. Android Pay and Apple Pay are the industry standard.

Good question on the home speakers. Amazon is off to a massive start, I'm not sure Google Home is going to make too big a dent, and Apple Home will flop if nothing else due to lateness and price.
 
DPI said:
They already won. Android Pay and Apple Pay are the industry standard.

Good question on the home speakers. Amazon is off to a massive start, I'm not sure Google Home is going to make too big a dent, and Apple Home will flop if nothing else due to lateness and price.
Click to expand...

Can you get Android Pay on all Android phones with NFC? I've had a Nexus for a while, so I'm not sure on that topic. If you can, then I'd say it'd be the way for the industry to go. Samsung Pay and LG pay and HTC Pay and Sony Pay and OnePlus Pay can suck it.

I like my Amazon Echo and Dot...but I can't say I really flex their capability. I set a lot of timers while cooking, listen to music, and use the Logitech Harmony Remote integration to turn the TV off when the kids lose the remote. That being said the thing is really handy for those uses. I don't know if there's any unique features that Amazon offers that Google Home doesn't though, other than the fact I've already got Prime so I have access to more tunes.
 
Krixon said:
My concern is not so much with hitting it while handling the phone, but rather while it is in a bag or pocket
Click to expand...

I assume that your phone is locked when it's in your pocket, right? When I press the Bixby button while my phone is locked, all I get is a little notice at the bottom that says "Hello Bixby not yet set up. To use Hello Bixby, unlock phone, then press Bixby key again to start setup." The phone remains locked while this notice is displayed. No reason to setup Bixby if you hate it, right? Without setting it up, most Bixby features don't even work.
 
GotNoRice said:
I have an S8+ and honestly it's not that hard to just ignore the button. I don't have issues hitting the power button or volume buttons when I don't want to either. Why are so many people finding it so difficult not to hit the bixby button?
Click to expand...
Krixon said:
I agree that those who buy the phone deserve exactly what they get. Anyone who drops that kind of cash on anything should know exactly what it does and how to use it; however, on that same line of thinking, when I drop close to a grand on a phone, it should not have 'features' that I find to be annoying. To each his own.
Click to expand...
I can understand the frustration where they removed the ability to map the button after an update was rolled out.
 
GotNoRice said:
I assume that your phone is locked when it's in your pocket, right? When I press the Bixby button while my phone is locked, all I get is a little notice at the bottom that says "Hello Bixby not yet set up. To use Hello Bixby, unlock phone, then press Bixby key again to start setup." The phone remains locked while this notice is displayed. No reason to setup Bixby if you hate it, right? Without setting it up, most Bixby features don't even work.
Click to expand...

It definitely sounds workable, and not quite as annoying as other users claim it to be, but not quite enough to make me buy one. Perhaps the Note 8 or S9 will skip out on the button. I don't really care about the existence of Bixby - I've grown accustomed to ignoring Samsung's version of already popular apps/services. I'll have to upgrade in 2018 though. My note 5 is getting a little long in the tooth.
 
Oddly - why isn't that button a hardwired "go to camera" like the Lumia Icon? Substantially more useful.
 
Same crap with the Samsung tablets and the Reader app that is installed by default, and twice a day peppers you with their preferred political news and viewpoints. Naturally the normal way off turning off notifications is blocked for this one offending app. It's VERY non-obvious how to disabled it -- you have open and approve the app (which is already running and spamming) then it can only be disabled in the bowels of its configuration settings. Googling shows that the vast majority of people don't figure it out. I almost discarded the tablet over the issue, forcing political crap into my face after $500 purchase is bs.
 
xorbe said:
Same crap with the Samsung tablets and the Reader app that is installed by default, and twice a day peppers you with their preferred political news and viewpoints. Naturally the normal way off turning off notifications is blocked for this one offending app. It's VERY non-obvious how to disabled it -- you have open and approve the app (which is already running and spamming) then it can only be disabled in the bowels of its configuration settings. Googling shows that the vast majority of people don't figure it out. I almost discarded the tablet over the issue, forcing political crap into my face after $500 purchase is bs.
Click to expand...

This reason (and others) is why package disabler is essential for Samsung devices. I am typing this on a Tab S3 and have never even seen the reader app - disabled it and others before I set anything else up.
 
while that case looks nice, couldn't you just,, you know buy any old case with button overlays and then just...superglue the button so it is unpressable/break the bixby button off/file it flat? thus you have the case you wanted, with no access bixby.
 
I thought you could quite easily re purpose the button, which I had planned to do. In the meantime I don't find any issue with it really, I don't use Bixby, and the the button isn't giving me an issues.
 
Tych-0 said:
I thought you could quite easily re purpose the button, which I had planned to do. In the meantime I don't find any issue with it really, I don't use Bixby, and the the button isn't giving me an issues.
Click to expand...

They took that remapping capability away in an update. Which is a completely dick-head move IMO.
 
Tych-0 said:
I thought you could quite easily re purpose the button, which I had planned to do. In the meantime I don't find any issue with it really, I don't use Bixby, and the the button isn't giving me an issues.
Click to expand...
So there is a physical button for this bixby?(don't know much about this) but WTF?! Samasung is losing it.....i'm glad i got my Pixel XL when i did. This phone is awesome and its not setup with some third party manufacturer bloatware.
 
I have the S8.

You can remap the button to Google Now or whatever else you like (dedicated camera?) with an app from the Play store for free (root access not necessary).

Alternatively, you could even just disable Bixby and the button doesn't do anything, which is what I did (long press on the screen like adding a widget, swipe to Bixby, toggle it off).

What exactly is the problem and why should I pay for some special case?
 
I have the s8 plus and I use bxactions. You can turn it off, Set an app or a function. I have it as a flashlight button. Makes outside working at night easy.
Edit: Also no root
 
DPI said:
They already won. Android Pay and Apple Pay are the industry standard.

Good question on the home speakers. Amazon is off to a massive start, I'm not sure Google Home is going to make too big a dent, and Apple Home will flop if nothing else due to lateness and price.
Click to expand...

Amazon already won the home speaker race. Alexa is deeply tied to EC2, its a truly pro-grade service that you can design anything to hook into. None of the other assistants have anywhere near the flexibility Alexa does. I hate them all, but i hate Alexa the least because shes capable and a has deep access.
 
mkgps3 said:
I have the s8 plus and I use bxactions. You can turn it off, Set an app or a function. I have it as a flashlight button. Makes outside working at night easy.
Edit: Also no root
Click to expand...
5 posts in 4 years, holy shit.

I never have an issue with the button...I forget it's there all the time.

Spire3660 said:
...shes capable and a has deep access.
Click to expand...

Hehe....
 
Ha, I come across this after finding out about Bxactions from friend and checking for updates only to receive a 384MB update for primarily Bixby. I have yet to set that thing up and never plan on doing so. Need to check that app out to remap the button and call it a day. I like the idea to map the flashlight to it, I use it enough.
 
A button? Not what I thought of when I read the title

image.jpg
 
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