Bixby gets cool new feature in One UI 9.0 that even Siri doesn't have
The One UI 9.0 update is expected to give Bixby users a cool gesture-based method for activating the assistant.
Bixby is getting a cool feature in One UI 9.0. | Image by PhoneArena
Samsung has reportedly been working on a new feature for its personal Bixby assistant that changes how users can activate it. To open our assistants, most of us use wake words such as "Hey Siri," or "Hey Google." But let's say that you are in a situation where you need to quickly open Bixby and give it a query to answer.
Samsung is reportedly working on a new way to wake Bixby
To open Bixby you can press the power button on your handset, or use the "Hey Bixby" or "Bixby" wake words. However, Samsung is reportedly working on a way for you to access your assistant faster than ever before, and it is expected to be available on One UI 9.0.
Early builds of Samsung's next version of its One UI interface show that you will be able to turn on Bixby by picking up your Galaxy phone and then moving it closer to your face. Doing this will allow you to tell Bixby what task you want done or what query you want answered.
This feature is supposed to debut on One UI 9
Here we are talking about One UI 9.0 when most Galaxy phones have not yet received One UI 8.5. It also has not yet appeared in the second beta version of One UI 9.0, which means that it could show up in a future beta version of the app, or in the stable One UI 9.0 build. The latter should debut on the upcoming releases of the Galaxy Z Fold 8, and the Galaxy Z Flip 8; the next iteration of the foldable Galaxy models could be released as soon as next month.
You might remember that last year Samsung stopped launching the latest One UI build with the flagship Galaxy S series. The One UI update typically includes the latest Android build, and it now debuts each year on the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip. As we noted last year, the Galaxy S line now receives the One UI X.5 update.
Which one is your favorite assistant?
On Samsung phones, Android 17 will first appear in One UI 9 in the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Flip 8.
So to understand the utility of such a feature, imagine that you are walking down the street and realize that you need to remind yourself to pick up a greasy, translucent bag of Five Guys fries for dinner. Your hands are full, you really can't tap the icon, and saying the wake word is just too slow. All you need to do is lift the phone, put it up to your face, and remind yourself to bring home a bag of grease.
Bixby gets a great new feature on One UI 9.0. | Image by PhoneArena
The fly in the ointment
There is one possible fly in the ointment. Having this sensor monitoring things in the background could result in draining your phone's battery. This is just conjecture, but sensors monitoring users' activities in the background often consume a large amount of power.
There is also another possible issue
Another issue is that there might be times when you mindlessly lift your Galaxy phone and bring it towards your face, activating the assistant without having any intention of doing so. Samsung is going to have to add some ways in which users can protect themselves from both possible issues. No one wants to have to deal with a rapidly depleting battery and perhaps giving users the ability to toggle off the feature when necessary will help on that end.
As for the accidental activation of Bixby, there might not be a way around that except to tell users not to mimic the gesture when they really have no desire to activate Bixby.
If Samsung users find that they enjoy activating Bixby in this fashion, it will be interesting to see whether Apple and Google decide to offer a similar feature to Siri and Gemini users respectively.
Popular stories
Latest News
Things that are NOT allowed:
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: