Samsung’s voice assistant, Bixby, is one of the main selling points for the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, boasting promising features like image search and a dedicated launch button.
But while these elements sound excellent in theory, we all know the success of the AI hinges on thing: third-party app support. So far, Samsung has kept quiet on the subject of what third-party apps to expect, stating only that all of its native apps will support Bixby at launch (such as Camera, Calendar, Gallery, Settings and Message) along with Google Music.
At a recent Samsung Canada press briefing, however, Samsung showed an early version of Bixby that listed several third-party apps comprising CNN, Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Twitter, Uber and YouTube.
MobileSyrup snapped some pictures of the supported apps list for your viewing pleasure, shown above. The pictures also show a variety of native Samsung apps, numbering 12 in total.
The AI launches with the click of a dedicated button on the left-hand side of the device and also offers a ‘Bixby Home’ feature that aggregates information cards from various applications on the phone, replacing Flipboard when right-swiping from the home screen.
Another unique element of the AI is visual search, which allows for use of the camera to do things like visually search for a product, identify a landmark or translate text.
As for availability, for now Bixby is exclusive to the company’s new smartphones.
