With new look, icons, Samsung revamps Bixby voice assistant.

Published on October 28, 2020

Key points:

A new update for the Bixby voice assistant is currently being rolled out by Samsung.
Surprisingly, the voice assistant roll-out has not formally been announced by Samsung.
Inside a video posted by a user on Reddit, the revamped Bixby voice assistant was first noticed.
Google, in the meantime, has started to develop Android phones with Google Assistant.

A new update for the Bixby voice assistant is currently being rolled out by Samsung. For now, the upgrade is not available to all consumers since it gets carried out in a phased way.

The new edition of Bixby comes with a new look that includes an improved button and a visual refresh.

Surprisingly, the voice assistant roll-out has not formally been announced by Samsung.

The revamped voice assistant is usually available for Samsung phones operating OneUI 2.1 and OneUI 2.5 through Bixby Voice 3.0.

Meanwhile a video posted via a user on Reddit, the revamped Bixby voice assistant was first noticed. The redesigned Bixby looks like a combination of Google Assistant and Siri on iOS 14, according to XDA Developers.

One of the most important improvements is that the whole screen is no longer hidden by Bixby.

It just takes a little segment at the bottom of the screen instead. Google Assistant appears remarkably similar to the interface.

The symbol has a flattering look. When it is summoned, it acts as a narrow horizontal strip.

The redesigned Bixby website has a new bar at the bottom that contains three icons: a text-based function keyboard, a voice command microphone icon, and a login icon to go to the home page.

In its paper, XDA Developers suggested that the color scheme has been changed on the black/grey side to a new shade of blue.

That said, it is potentially the biggest update in years for Bixby. To take on Google’s Assistant and Apple’s Siri, Samsung launched Bixby in 2017.

The voice assistant has not gotten much traction, despite an ambitious campaign, which involves adding a dedicated Bixby launcher on certain tablets.

Google, in the meantime, has started to develop Android phones with Google Assistant. There have been reports of Samsung phasing out Bixby on its phones in favor of Assistant.

Only recently, a few augmented reality-focused features in Bixby Assistant were discontinued by Samsung.