Galaxy S9/S9+ – How to Disable Bixby

Many smartphone users rely on voice-activated virtual assistants to guide them through the day. The popularity of these AIs is on the rise. Even if you aren’t fully comfortable with integrating them into your life, it’s important to be aware of your options.

Smartphone virtual assistants are capable of more than just opening apps based on your verbal commands. You can use them to dictate texts, schedule meetings, look up facts, or navigate streets. Over time, your virtual assistant becomes more efficient as it attunes to your needs.

What You Need to Know about Bixby

Bixby is Samsung’s contribution to the world of virtual assistants. In some cases, using Bixby can be convenient and fun. For example, you can use Bixby to change video settings while you’re watching a YouTube video. It’s a great option for accessing your phone’s native apps and you can also use it to access your social media.

However, this virtual assistant isn’t as flexible as some of its competitors, and it’s nowhere near as developed as Google Assistant. Since the Galaxy S9/S9+ comes with both Google Assistant and Bixby, you may decide that Bixby is unnecessary. Some users prefer to use both virtual assistants at the same time, but this takes some practice.

Disabling the Bixby Button on the Galaxy S9 or S9+

The simplest way to activate Bixby is to press the Bixby button. This is located next to the volume control buttons. It’s far too easy to activate by accident. Even if you want to keep using Bixby, it can be a good idea to disable this button.

1. Press the Bixby Button to Open the Bixby App

2. Select Settings – In other words, you need to tap the gear icon in the top right corner.

3. Select the Bixby Key Option

4. Turn It to OFF

After this, you can press the key without causing any changes in your phone. But you can still activate Bixby by swiping left from your home screen. It also reacts to the command “Bixby”. So how do you switch the assistant off entirely?

Disabling Bixby Voice and Bixby Home

You can use the same Settings menu to turn off Bixby Voice.

1. Swipe Left from the Home Screen to Open Bixby

2. Select Settings

3. Find the Bixby Voice Toggle

4. Switch It Off

Once you’ve completed this, Bixby no longer responds to your voice commands. But to disable the virtual assistant completely, you also want to switch off Bixby Home.

To do this, you should find an empty section of your home screen. Press and hold an empty spot until the Bixby Home screen appears. Now, switch the toggle to OFF.

A Final Word

Google, Apple, and Amazon introduced virtual assistants that have changed the way we use our devices. Samsung’s attempts to keep up are admirable, and many Samsung users have a fondness for Bixby. But if you’ve used Siri or Alexa before, let alone Google Assistant, you’ll notice that switching to Bixby feels like a downgrade.

There’s still a chance that Samsung will continue to improve this assistant and make it significantly more usable. But if this doesn’t come to pass, future Samsung phones will likely feature only Google Assistant. For now, if you’re not sure which assistant to learn about, it’s best to start with Google.