Samsung’s latest measure against any remapping of the Bixby key on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus has been defeated once again, with the developers of the bxActions – Bixby Button Remapper app recently issuing a new update for their mobile tool and claiming that it works with the latest patch that prevented previous techniques of changing the functionality of the polarizing key. The software package that once again disabled a number of remapping apps started being distributed by T-Mobile and Sprint over the weekend, with other mobile service providers in the country being expected to follow suit shortly. As the protection mechanism introduced with the update has already been defeated, similar mobile tools may also soon be updated with workarounds for Samsung’s service that aims to keep the Bixby button dedicated to the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) assistant.
The South Korean original equipment manufacturer (OEM) initially introduced Bixby as one of the main selling points of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus when launching the flagships in late March, though its digital companion ended up being late to the market and was only available in its home country until late June. Since then, Bixby launched in the United States in a limited beta capacity and seemingly still isn’t close to being a comprehensive AI solution that can compete with the likes of Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant. Industry insiders previously said that Samsung is struggling with teaching Bixby the nuances of the English language and the Seoul-based tech giant later blamed the delay of its service on the lack of big data that it needs to feed to Bixby.
Due to that state of affairs, numerous owners of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus started looking for ways to remap the dedicated Bixby key on their devices and make it perform other actions that they find to be more useful, which the consumer electronics manufacturer is now trying to prevent with little success. The upcoming Galaxy Note 8 is also expected to ship with the same button and could possibly see similar resistance from consumers once it’s released in late summer.