MASSIVE pre-order deal! Get your Galaxy S25 Ultra today! Follow us on Google news!

SamMobile has affiliate and sponsored partnerships. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn a commission.

News For You
News For You
Notifications

Bixby’s alive, but Gemini is Galaxy S25’s default AI assistant

Phone
By 

Last updated: January 29th, 2025 at 09:23 UTC+01:00

Back when Google Assistant was becoming popular, Samsung refused to let people activate it using a dedicated button or even to use it as the default voice assistant on its phones. It forced people to use Bixby. However, over the past few years, it seems to be reducing Bixby's prominence from its devices.

In fact, Gemini is now the default voice assistant on its latest high-end phones: Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Bixby might as well not be there

You can access Google's Gemini AI by simply long-pressing the side (power) button on the Galaxy S25 series. That action was earlier limited to Bixby or the Power Menu. While Bixby is still present, and it even seems to have been improved, Gemini still does most of the voice assistant duties.

Moreover, Samsung also created integration for some of its stock apps—Samsung Calendar, Samsung Notes, and Samsung Reminder—for Gemini.

For example, you can ask Gemini to find something or some place and add that information to Samsung Notes. You can add or remove an alarm or start or end a stopwatch or timer in the stock Clock app via Gemini. You can create or delete reminders in the Samsung Reminder app via Gemini voice commands.

Bixby has been upgraded

Bixby still comes pre-loaded on the Galaxy S25 series. You can manually launch the app and ask it to do certain things, and it will do those things. However, it no longer does voice assistant tasks by default.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra One UI 7.0 Bixby Remember Context

When you launch Bixby for the first time on the Galaxy S25, it explains that it can now remember previous conversations and the context. So, when you say your next command, it can remember what you previously discussed and answer the question or do the task in that context.

For example, you can ask it about your schedule for the next day and then ask it to add another calendar event. It will remember that your previous conversation with it was about the next day. So, it will add the calendar entry for that day.

In China, Samsung introduced the newer generation Bixby, powered by large language models (LLMs), a few months ago. In addition to remembering context, it works with several apps and can do a lot more things. However, it doesn't seem to have added most of those features to Bixby in other countries.

It was expected that the same next-generation Bixby revealed by Samsung in China would be released in other countries with One UI 7.0 and with the Galaxy S25. However, that didn't happen.

Samsung mentioned to some publications that Bixby and Gemini are both used on the Galaxy S25 and that either will be activated, depending on the task. Here's what Samsung said to Android Authority:

Gemini and Bixby can both be activated depending on the use case / what is being asked. Gemini and / or Bixby is activated depending on what you ask your device to do. For example, if you’re looking for a restaurant – Gemini will be activated because it’s a search function, but if you ask to add something to your Samsung Calendar, Bixby will activate because it’s a Samsung app.

However, to us, it seems like you can only use Bixby by manually launching it from the app drawer or changing the default side button settings to Bixby.

Image Credits: Samsung

Via Phone Android 15BixbyGoogleGoogle GeminiOne UI 7.0 Pre-Order Galaxy S25
Scroll for more related content
News For You

You might also like

One UI 7.0’s Now Bar feature also works on AOD

One UI 7.0’s Now Bar feature also works on AOD

Now Bar is one of the most impressive features in One UI 7.0. It not only shows information about ongoing activities on your phone but is also visually stunning. It lets you keep track of ongoing activities without unlocking your device. It even works when the phone is in sleep mode. Now Bar works in […]

  • By Asif Iqbal Shaik
  • 3 hours ago
Apple is working on rival to Samsung’s AR glasses

Apple is working on rival to Samsung’s AR glasses

On the day of the last Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung’s TM Roh, revealed that Google and Samsung are developing AR glasses. It will arrive as a direct competitor to Meta’s Orion and Apple’s upcoming AR glasses. While Roh didn’t reveal any details about the product, we have some new information about its competitor from the […]

  • By Abid Iqbal Shaik
  • 17 hours ago
Circle to Search now offers more information, relevant suggestions

Circle to Search now offers more information, relevant suggestions

Google launched Circle to Search with the Galaxy S24 series. It can provide information about anything on the screen around which people draw a circle. Since then, the company has been slowly but consistently adding small features to it. Now, Google is giving Circle to Search a major upgrade. At the last Galaxy Unpacked event, […]

  • By Abid Iqbal Shaik
  • 20 hours ago
Camera Assistant gets One UI 7.0 support, confirms a Galaxy A56 secret

Camera Assistant gets One UI 7.0 support, confirms a Galaxy A56 secret

Samsung is gradually updating its various Good Lock modules with support for One UI 7.0. This will ensure that these enhanced customization features are good to go when One UI 7.0 is released for the public in the near future. Camera Assistant is the latest Good Lock module to be updated with support for One […]

  • By Adnan Farooqui
  • 22 hours ago
Gemini’s Google Home Extension now available for everyone

Gemini’s Google Home Extension now available for everyone

Google has released the Google Home Extension for the Gemini app on Android. It enables Google’s GenAI assistant to control Google Home smart devices without the help of Google Assistant, as it used to before. Along with that, the Extension enables people to converse with Gemini in a more conversational manner to control smart home […]

  • By Abid Iqbal Shaik
  • 24 hours ago
Here’s how Gemini AI works with Samsung’s stock apps

Here’s how Gemini AI works with Samsung’s stock apps

Google has been slowly but consistently adding Extensions for various applications and services to the Gemini app for Android, enabling it to help you with a wider array of tasks. Well, on the Galaxy S25 with One UI 7, Gemini also works with Samsung apps that come pre-installed with the device, and if you have […]

  • By Abid Iqbal Shaik
  • 1 day ago