"Hi, Bixby"?
Bixby is Samsung's Virtual Assistant. It is in Samsung's televisions, refrigerators, tablets, and phones. The Bixby icon is blue, and also has a suite of applications called Bixby Vision, Routines, and most importantly Bixby itself. Bixby can be waked by holding the Bixby button, opening the application, saying "Hi Bixby" (after setup), or the Power/Side key.
Why Bixby is Hated.
Some people do not appreciate the obtrusiveness of the assistant. Secondly, Bixby Vision is not as good as Google Lens and is basically only good for QR codes and for identifying objects if you're vision is impaired. (via a special setting) Bixby is also not as fast as Google Assistant and does not integrate as well with your Google Account. Bixby also works well with Samsung Mobile Suite, and thus when you say "install Google Drive" it will open the Galaxy Store instead of the Play Store. Also, Bixby operates in 'capsules' meaning that unless you install some 'capsules' some features will not work, for these reasons (and its integrations with Google) Google Assistant is better at search.
Why Bixby Matters.
As expected Bixby works well with Samsungs own applications, it works extremely well with the Calendar and file manager application. Bixby's voice commands also integrate well with Samsung's mobile applications. For instance, Bixby will show you all your PDFs in your file manager if you ask, but Google Assistant will not. Bixby will also record your voice, but Google Assistant will only record it into Keep. Bixby also found an event on my calendar when Google Assistant did not. Even though Google Calendar, does not work with Bixby, it can sync to Samsung Calendar thus mitigating that drawback. Bixby also works in any application as a speech-to-text transcriber. This is extremely useful as it is extremely easy to add text to a form.
Opening applications is extremely easy, but for some reason, Bixby did not open the 'Secure Folder' application when I asked. Instead, it attempted to open a folder named 'Secure Folder' but I mage a custom command to fix that. This leads to another benefit of Bixby's 'Quick Commands.' 'Quick Commands' allows you to create specific commands for your device, this is much better than Google Assistants 'Routines' settings.
Bixby also has its own Routines which allows you to create Routines to automate your device. It allows you to use your location to turn mobile data off when you get home and it automatically connects to a WiFi network. Your headphones, charging status, Wifi Strength, keywords in texts and so much more can all be used to trigger an action on your phone. If you download Routines+ on your phone you can add button actions and Fingerprint unlocking to trigger a response.
How Should I Use Bixby?
Bixby should be used in conjunction with other virtual assistants. As stated in this review, Bixby is great for controlling and automating things on your phone. It is also great for searching for files on your device, and it can control your Samsung television. with your voice. What Bixby is not (as) good for is search, for that Google Assistant may be better. But for automation, control of your phone, and the Samsung ecosystem, Bixby is the way to go.
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