How to remap the Galaxy S8’s Bixby button to open Google Now

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UPDATE 1/17/2022 3:53 PM ET: Unfortunately this app that remaps the Galaxy’s S8 Bixby button is no longer available. The original story follows below.

It’s no secret, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is a runaway success. The critics love it, users are drooling over it, and tech news sites can’t stop writing about it. However, there’s one small catch that makes it less appealing – the Bixby button.

For those of you out of the loop, Bixby is Samsung’s first attempt at Siri-like integration on Samsung devices, but a full-fledged artificial intelligence service that uses machine learning to understand you, not simply respond to prompts and key phrases. Learn more about Bixby here. 

The good news is that a developer, Dave Bennet, found a quick workaround that allows users to customize the Bixby button to launch Google Now instead of Samsung’s virtual assistant. All you have to do is download this app and you’re good to go.

Here’s a quick demo video from Bennet outlining how the app works. Watch it below:

The only kicker to the app is that still opens up Bixby when you hit the button, but it runs in the background when Google Now launches. Not a big deal.

It’s probably safe to say that Samsung will request to remove this app from the Google Play Store, so it’s probably wise to download this app right now while it’s still available to download.

UPDATE 1/17/2022 3:53 PM ET: Unfortunately this app that remaps the Galaxy’s S8 Bixby button is no longer available.

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com.