Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
The Galaxy Note 10, left, and the Galaxy Note 10 Plus.
- Samsung has ditched the controversial Bixby button that summons the company's Bixby voice assistant on the Galaxy Note 10.
- The dedicated button was often reviled, as it didn't let users do anything other than summon Bixby, which not all users wanted to use. And when Samsung did allow users to remap the Bixby button to quickly open an app of choice, it still didn't allow users to remap the button to summon the superior Google Assistant.
- To summon Bixby on the Galaxy Note 10, users have to press and hold the Note 10's power button. Users will also be able to remap the power button long-press to app shortcuts.
- Pressing and holding the power button is usually how a user turns off their phone. Instead, users will have to pull down the Android notification panel and tap a power symbol to turn off the Galaxy Note 10
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Samsung has removed the controversial dedicated Bixby button that summons the company's own Bixby voice assistant in the Galaxy Note 10.
Now, to summon Bixby on the Galaxy Note 10, users can press and hold the power button. Samsung is also giving the option for users to remap the long-press on the power button to open another app.
However, it won't let you change the power button setting to summon other smart voice assistants, like Google Assistant, which comes pre-installed on all Android phones, and is largely considered vastly superior to Samsung's Bixby.
Read more: Here's your first look at the Galaxy Note 10, Samsung's gorgeous new smartphone that starts at $950
On previous Galaxy devices, the dedicated Bixby button was found on the right edge of Samsung's Galaxy devices. It was a point of controversy for many Samsung smartphone owners, especially for those who didn't want to use the Bixby voice assistant.
On some phone models and software versions, Samsung enabled users to remap the dedicated Bixby button to do something else, like act as a shortcut to open an app. But for some, Samsung didn't let users remap the button to do something else they might like, depending on the phone model, or the software version a phone was running.
For many users and reviewers, the dedicated Bixby button was a dead and useless button that did nothing. Samsung often listens to feedback, and it looks the company heard those users and reviewers loud and clear when it came to the dedicated Bixby button.
Now, the Galaxy Note 10's right edge is totally smooth and free of buttons.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
The new Galaxy Note.
So how does a Galaxy Note 10 owner turn off the phone?
On most phones, pressing and holding the power button lets users turn off their phones. But on the Galaxy Note 10, that action will now summon Bixby.
That may lead you to wonder: How will you turn off your phone?
Galaxy Note 10 users will have to turn off their phones by swiping down the Android notification panel and tapping the power symbol, which will turn off the Galaxy Note 10. To turn the phone back on again, you can press the power button as your normally would.
