Samsung finally lets Galaxy users disable the Bixby button—to an extent

Enlarge (credit: Ron Amadeo)

While Samsung’s latest crop of high-end smartphones has impressed from a design standpoint, many Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, and Galaxy Note 8 buyers have complained about the tech giant’s decision to plant a dedicated button for its much-maligned Bixby voice assistant on both devices.

Now, though, the company appears to be backing down—at least a little bit.

As spotted by Samsung blog SamMobile, the tech giant is rolling out a software update to at least some Galaxy devices that lets users disable the so-called Bixby Key from opening the assistant’s “Bixby Home” screen—which acts as a sort of Samsung-made information hub similar to Google’s Google Now page—upon being pressed.