Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant gets a lot of hate – some fair – but it’s not quite as useless as some might think. The Bixby Routines feature on Galaxy phones is surprisingly good. You must use it.
Bixby is not just a voice assistant
Most people think Bixby is Samsung’s version of Google Assistant or Siri. That annoying thing that unlocks when you press the power button on a new Samsung Galaxy phone. For some reason, Samsung has also pinned the name to a feature that has nothing really to do with voice assistants. That’s what we’re talking about here.
Related: Samsung Galaxy S20: Change the side button to the power button
What are the Bixby procedures?
Bixby Routines are simple “if so” macros that can automate things on your Galaxy device. You choose the actions to be a “trigger” and then decide what actions should occur when the trigger occurs. It’s similar to Google Assistant’s actions, but more device-oriented.
Here are some examples of a simple Bixby Routine that you can create:
- if: I leave the house.
- Then: Turn off Wi-Fi.
- if: Bluetooth headphones connected.
- Then: Open Spotify.
- if: Open YouTube
- ThenAutomatically rotatable screen.
You can see that the concept is very simple, but the results can be very powerful. There are a lot of different things you can use for triggers and the resulting actions. Samsung also has a list of suggested routines you can play with.
How to use Bixby Actions
To start using Bixby Routines, swipe down once from the top of the screen and tap the gear icon.
Scroll down to the “Advanced Features” section.
Switch to “Bixby Routines” and click on the title.
There are three tabs at the bottom: Discover, Add Routine and Routine. The Discover tab contains some preset actions that you can use.
To make your own routine, go to the “Add Routine” tab. First, click on the plus icon for the If section.
Search the list of launchers and find the ones you want to use. You will be guided through setting it up. You can have multiple triggers.
After selecting “If”, click on the plus icon for the “Then” section.
Find the action you want to happen with the triggers. You will be guided through setting it up. You can have multiple ‘after’ actions as well.
Finally, you can “reverse the actions” when the routine is finished. For example, if you turn off Wi-Fi when you leave the house, it will turn on again when you arrive.
Now select “Next”.
Give the routine a name and assign a color and icon to it. Click Done when done.
Thats all about it. Bixby procedures can be as simple or as complex as you like. It’s a bit strange for Samsung to attach a file unfavorable name Really cool and useful feature. Give her a chance.
Related: Google Assistant arrives on some Samsung Smart TVs, Bye Bye Bixby
