How to remap Bixby 2.0 on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9

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Samsung released Bixby 2.0 with the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Bixby 2.0 made promises of being way better than Bixby 1.0 which launched last year with the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. I have been using the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 for a few days and in my view, Bixby 2.0 is basically the same as 1.0 but missing some features I liked. So like any sane human being, I found a way to remap it. Below are instructions on how to install and use the two best remapping apps for Bixby 2.0 on the Galaxy Note 9.

Remap Bixby 2.0 on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9

Option 1: Button Mapper

Button Mapper lets you remap any button on your phone, but specifically for our purposes, it lets you remap the Bixby button on the Galaxy Note 9. This app is more reliable than option two, but it does have one downside. You need to run the script every time you reboot your phone. You can follow the tutorial below to set it up.

Install Button Mapper from the Google Play Store. Set up ADB on your computer. You can follow this guide to get it installed. Enable ADB by going to Settings > About Phone > Software Information and tap build number 7 times. Once you do this enter your password and go back twice. You can enter the developer options menu now. Just toggle the USB Debugging switch to enable ADB. Open the Button Mapper app, at the bottom of the window, there will be a popup asking you to enable accessibility services. You then just enable accessibility services for Button Mapper. Select the Bixby Button option at the top of the app. Then click the customize button. Once you do this you will need to run the following commands: adb shell sh /data/data/flar2.homebutton/keyevent.sh And then adb shell sh /data/data/flar2.homebutton/keyevent.sh -d You will need to run this second command every time you reboot your phone. This will also disable Bixby Voice. If you don’t disable Bixby Voice, it will open every time you press the button along with what you have it remapped to. You can re-enable Bixby Voice with the following command: adb shell sh /data/data/flar2.homebutton/keyevent.sh -e. You select whatever option you want to use in the single tap and long press menus. You can set it to do things like open Google Assistant or toggle the flashlight.



This app seems to be a bit better in use because it disables Bixby Voice and remaps it. The downside is that you will have to run the ADB command every time you reboot your phone. If you don’t want to have to run the command every time you reboot your phone, option 2 will be for you.

Option 2: bxActions

bxActions is an app that has been doing Bixby remapping since the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+ launched last year. This app is pretty reliable for remapping Bixby on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, but Bixby Voice is still installed so there could be some compatibility issues with that. The developer is actively developing the app so if you do find any bugs, you should expect them to be fixed.

Join the open beta for bxActions then install the app. Install ADB on your computer. You can follow this guide to get it installed. Enable ADB by going to Settings > About Phone > Software Information and tap build number 7 times. Once you do this enter your password and go back twice. You can enter the developer options menu now. Just toggle the USB debugging switch to enable ADB. Open bxActions and follow the prompts to give it the permissions it needs. Select the Bix button options and click the red box that says “please unlock permissions using a PC” Run the two commands: adb shell pm grant com.jamworks.bxactions android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS adb shell pm grant com.jamworks.bxactions android.permission.READ_LOGS Once you do this close and reopen the app. You can now select the option you want to use to remap the Bixby button on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. This app has actions like Google Assistant and the flashlight toggle as well.

This app does work well, but it’s not always as reliable as Button Mapper in my experience. It has the great upside of only needing to be enabled once. You don’t even need to run the adb command, but it does make the app faster and more reliable. This app is by no means bad—I would say it’s probably the best for its function. Just sometimes, I have found it to be unreliable on my Galaxy Note 9.

What remapping Bixby on the Galaxy Note 9 lets you do

Button Mapper lets you remap the Bixby button on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 to either a long press or a single press. Once you do this you can remap it to one of the actions in the list below. There are also options for Zello, which is a walkie-talkie app. There are Pro options for disabling Bixby when locked and vibration on button press.

Default

Home

Back

Recent apps

Show menu

Last app

Turn the screen off

Toggle flashlight

Power dialog

Screenshot

Split screen

Tasker intent

Do not disturb

Toggle silent/vibration

Mute volume

Mute microphone

Volume +

Volume –

Previous track

Next track Play/Pause

Scroll up

Scroll down

Copy

Paste

Kill foreground app

Quick settings

Notifications

Clear notifications

Brightness +

Brightness –

Toggle auto brightness

Toggle BlueTooth

Toggle WiFi

Toggle portrait

Change keyboard

Open URL

Zello PTT (Pro only)

Search

Assistant

Open any application

bxActions has options for both a single press and long press, along with a long press on the lock screen. The long press and long press on lock screen both require the pro mode to be unlocked for $3. You can remap the Bixby button on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 to the actions below.

Disable Bixby

Enable Bixby

Home

Back

Phone (dialer)

Camera

Launch application

Launch shortcut action

Launch Tasker task (Pro)

Google Now

Google assistant

Google assistant extra (supports direct speech input and “whats on my screen” action

Media play/pause

Media next

Volume up

Volume down

Do not disturb (silent) Sound mode (Sound, vibrate, silent)

Sound mode iOS (Sound, vibrate) (Pro)

Task manager

Power menu

Notification center

Settings tray

Toggle auto rotation

Toggle split screen (Pro)

Flashlight (system)

Flashlight (extra power)

Take screenshot

Fullscreen on/off

Fullscreen for the current app

Cancel all and mark all notifications as read (Pro)

Mark as read (Pro)

Heads-up notifications on/off (Pro)

Take a screenshot with Samsung Capture (Pro and root)

In my opinion, Bixby 2.0 is not that great on the Galaxy Note 9. Luckily for us, we have amazing developers who also agree with this and work on apps to remap it to more useful features, like Google Assistant.