The Samsung Galaxy S21 was one of the best smartphones of 2021. There was a lot to like about the handset like its performance, Samsung’s vibrant display and the amazing cameras that Samsung had included with the phone, but as always , there is no such thing as the perfect device.
In the case of the Galaxy S21, Samsung’s aggressive Bixby integration might not have gone down well with all of its customers. Although Bixby works as expected, we’re sure some of you might prefer that it’s not as integrated in software and hardware as you might prefer another digital assistant like Google Assistant.
Luckily, unlike how Apple forces everyone to use Siri, you can actually disable Bixby on your Samsung Galaxy S21 and if you want to minimize its impact on your daily experience, then that’s what you need to do.
Remove Bixby from Galaxy S21 side key
- Swipe down from the top of the screen
- Tap the settings icon in the upper right corner of the screen
- Scroll down and tap Advanced Features
- Press the side key
- Under “Press and hold”, make sure “Shutdown menu” is selected instead of “Wake Bixby”
So now, whenever you press and hold the side key, Bixby won’t launch like it used to, and you’re now one step closer to almost completely disabling Bixby on your Galaxy S21.
Disable Bixby wake command
Most PDAs have a permanent listening mode. This means that it always searches for its trigger word/phrase so users don’t have to reach for their phone to perform certain actions. If you’d rather not accidentally wake Bixby using its trigger word, here’s how to disable the digital assistant’s wake command on the Galaxy S21.
- Open the Galaxy S21 app drawer and tap Bixby
- On the Bixby floating bar, tap the compass icon on the right
- Tap the three-dot icon in the upper right corner
- Tap Settings
- Find “Voice wake-up” and tap the toggle to turn it off (it will turn gray)
After making these changes, Bixby is effectively disabled on your phone. Unfortunately, completely removing Bixby isn’t possible, and who knows, maybe you might want to get it back, but for the most part the steps above should minimize its presence on the Galaxy S21.
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