Apr 17, 2024 | Updated: 11:35 AM EDT
Jun 09, 2017 07:29 AM EDT
The digital voice assistant Siri adds value to Apple’s iPhone. But it is not the case for Samsung’s Bixby which is why someone decided to initiate a Kickstarter project to hide the button of the useless AI on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. If the project raises $16,000 in the next 18 days, those who donated money will receive in September the Bixby-Free Phone Case.
Android Headlines reports that the Bixby-Free Phone Case Kickstarter project has raised, so far, $421 from 17 backers. To receive a case, a $20 donation is needed. Those who would give $3 will get an “I Hate Bixby” sticker.
The two flagship phones feature a dedicated physical Bixby button on the lower left edge. The button, which activates the virtual assistant of Samsung, also acts as a customizable function key after developers remapped the Bixby button. But Samsung rolled out a software patch that rendered the function key useless, requiring the Bixby-Free Phone Case to hide it.
The tech website acknowledges that the Bixby-Free Phone Case is an extreme solution to a problem that Samsung appears not keen on solving for now. Behind the Kickstarter project is McKay, a plastic manufacturer with 10 years of experience in making phone cases. If the project raises the $16,000, there would be at least 5,000 Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus phone owners happy with not seeing a useless button that they could not hack, Pocketnow reports.
A tech website points out that for owners of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus who are not inclined to support the Bixby-Free Phone Case project, they have two options. First is to disable com.samsung.android.bixby.agent from the phone’s setting. Second is to remap the button. But doing so would not announce to the world that the owner of the flagship hates Bixby.
