History is replete with examples proving that the same success recipe when overcooked turns into a disastrous dish. It seems like Samsung is treading on a similar path. A brouhaha was created around Galaxy S8, prior and post its launch, specially due to some of its unique features amongst which stand out AI assistant Bixby. Although Samsung launched Galaxy S8 and S8+ with a dedicated Bixby button, it is yet to activate the AI on the flagship devices. As such, the dedicated Bixby button sits idle.
Attempting to make the best use of it, customers who have purchased Galaxy S8 found a way out to remap the dedicated Bixby hardware button to launch another app or Google Assistant or Google Now. This was done with the help of third party apps such as Button Mapper or All in One Gestures. But seems this has not gone down well with Samsung and the OEM has disabled the remapping ability of Bixby button on S8 and S8+.
Read: How to make Bixby button launch Google Assistant instead of Bixby on Galaxy S8
Samsung apparently has rolled out an OTA patch to S8 and S8+, which arrives as build version NRD90M.G950WVLU1AQD9, to remove the third party apps’ ability to interfere with the Bixby button. This was officially confirmed by Philip Berne, Samsung U.S.A head of reviews program, via his Twitter handle.
https://twitter.com/philipberne/status/854020503908089862?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.androidauthority.com%2Fsamsung-galaxy-s8-plus-remap-bixby-button-764592%2F
Although it is too early to state how will this move by Samsung be perceived in the international market, the early reactions from Galaxy S8 users have not been supportive. And reasonably so.
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