Augmented reality is sooo 2014
Google Assistant might be the most widely used digital voice assistants on Android, but it isn't the only option. Samsung introduced Bixby back in 2018 with the launch of the Galaxy S8. Though it has been subject to plenty of punchlines over the years as the built-in voice assistant on Samsung devices, it did have some handy features and unique use cases. Now it looks like Samsung is giving up on AR-powered aspects of its digital assistant: Bixby Vision's reality just got less "augmented."
Users attempting to access Bixby Vision through Samsung's camera app have started seeing a notice that there will be changes to the service. The details given indicate that the AR features of Bixby Vision will no longer be supported as of the end of October — less than a month away. AR features being disabled include places, makeup, home decor, and styling.
The message says that the continued availability of AR features may vary by region.
While it seems like other Bixby Vision capabilities (like translations, quick reader, and scene-describing accessibility features) will be sticking around for now, it's not a great look for Samsung to be killing off all of its AR abilities while other companies like Google are stepping up their own efforts.
We learned earlier this summer that Google is negotiating pretty hard in favor of Bixby's death. While the timing of this could be merely coincidental, it's easy to imagine that this is just one of the first steps before Bixby is eventually booted out of Samsung town in favor of the Google Assistant.
Google Assistant might be the most widely used digital voice assistants on Android, but it isn't the only option. Samsung introduced Bixby back in 2018 with the launch of the Galaxy S8. Though it has been subject to plenty of punchlines over the years as the built-in voice assistant on Samsung devices, it did have some handy features and unique use cases. Now it looks like Samsung is giving up on AR-powered aspects of its digital assistant: Bixby Vision's reality just got less "augmented."
Users attempting to access Bixby Vision through Samsung's camera app have started seeing a notice that there will be changes to the service. The details given indicate that the AR features of Bixby Vision will no longer be supported as of the end of October — less than a month away. AR features being disabled include places, makeup, home decor, and styling.
The message says that the continued availability of AR features may vary by region.
While it seems like other Bixby Vision capabilities (like translations, quick reader, and scene-describing accessibility features) will be sticking around for now, it's not a great look for Samsung to be killing off all of its AR abilities while other companies like Google are stepping up their own efforts.
We learned earlier this summer that Google is negotiating pretty hard in favor of Bixby's death. While the timing of this could be merely coincidental, it's easy to imagine that this is just one of the first steps before Bixby is eventually booted out of Samsung town in favor of the Google Assistant.
