Bixby, I'm Sorry.
- Craig Pedder
- Aug 21, 2018
- 2 min read
Going back to before Bixby, Samsungs built in smart assistant, was even announced, i like many others, wrote it off. I shook my head in confused disbelief. Why are Samsung once again trying to separate themselves from the standard Android ecosystem. For every Google app that comes bundled on your phone, Samsung has it's own offering. They have their own email app, their own calendar, gallery, mobile pay app, and even their own app store! and now, now they have their own assistant. As though Google assistant wasn't good enough. There is just no need for an extra assistant on your phone....
Or so i thought.
Out of curiosity and excitement, in the spirit of fairness, I gave Bixby a try when i got my Note 8 back in September last year. I It was slow, unresponsive, barely understood what i was saying. It was unimpressive and unreliable. After a couple of weeks i retired it and returned to good, old, reliable Google.
But i was missing something.
Almost a year on from first trying Bixby, I watched the unpacked event announcing the Note 9 and swept away in the excitement of a new phone I decided to give Bixby another try but i needed to some ideas first. I took to YouTube to check out some videos showcasing Bixby. I realised that I was using it all wrong. Where as Google is there to give you information, set reminders, and do basic actions like make phone calls and send text messages, Bixby was capable of so much more!
How useful it is will depend on the kind of mobile phone user you are but Bixby really is much better than I had originally given it credit for.
For instance, Bixy understands strings of commands such as "Hey Bixby, share my last selfie to instagram with the caption Monday ready". Then you can just sit back and watch as your screen goes through the actions you requested as though it were possessed. Try doing that with Google Assistant or Siri! (NOTE: if you haven't taken a selfie yet, you can always ask Bixby to do that for you too.)
Bixby isn't just for the narcissistic, selfie lover though. How about starting a morning playlist. Bixby has your back. Sending an email to somebody with a file attached, yep It can do that too. Not too mention it can control all of your Samsung phones settings.
It's a long way from perfect but it will be interesting to see how much better it gets with the new update. Especially deeper integration with Spotify. I use Bixby a lot more now that i know it's full capabilities but have yet to fall in love with the Bixby home screen or have a proper play about with Bixby vision but one thing is for certain, Bixby is here to stay.I can't wait to see how the future line up of assistants measure up against each other.
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