Samsung updates Bixby: now it’s more useful with two really handy new features

Bixby never had it easy. Since its introduction in 2017, with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 + flagships, Samsung’s voice assistant has in fact had to play a difficult “derby” with that of Google, much more tested, full of functions, integrated into the Android system and above all known by users, who over the years have gotten used to saying “Ok Google”.

Despite this, the Korean giant has not abandoned the project, and continues to carry it forward. On the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic, for example, awaiting the arrival of the Google Assistant (which should be close by now, as there are traces of it in the latest watch commercials), Bixby is pulling the wagon forward.

And now, proving that Samsung still believes in Bixby, after the various improvements introduced by the update last July, there is another one. L’ update downloadable via the Galaxy Store on Samsung smartphones, carries the version 3.2.12.16 with a couple of interesting new features that make life a lot easier.

Before seeing in detail what it is, however, it is worth making some clarifications. First of all, the news for the moment are only available in English and Korean (but in the future they should also support Italian).
Furthermore, i models who can currently benefit from it are alone five those that occupy the highest range of the Samsung catalog: Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 +, Galaxy S22 Ultra and the folding Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. The company, however, has made it known that in the future the range of compatible smartphones will be expanded .

ANSWERING CALLS AND TURNING OFF THE ALARM IS MORE IMMEDIATE

In fact, voice assistants come in handy if they actually offer a more comfortable way to do something that would still be possible with the phone in your hands. But they require to be activated first via a voice command. Here: with the update comes the ability to perform two actions hands-freethen using the voice, and without first having to say the magic formula “Hey Bixby” to awaken the attention of the assistant.

And these are also two circumstances where the immediacy of command really comes in handy: we are talking about the possibility of answer a phone call by simply saying “accept call” (accepts the call), and that of turn off an alarm with the command “stop the alarm“(turn off the alarm).

In particular, the latter function seems particularly convenient. It is never nice to have to groped for the smartphone on the bedside table to silence the alarm, and at the same time a too articulate voice command (which therefore also required the preamble of “Hey Bixby”) would be inconvenient and long, especially with the cognitive faculties still slowed down. from sleep: better a simple “stop the alarm“.