Six Ways to Make the Galaxy S9 Better Right Out of the Box

Author: Cameron Summerson / Source: howtogeek.com

The Galaxy S9 is here, and it’s better than the S8 (even if only marginally). It’s not perfect, though, and there are a handful of things you can do right out of the box to make it better.

Disable Bixby

Real talk: Bixby…isn’t good. Google Assistant is a far better (and more powerful) assistant, and it’s a core part of Android.

That means it’s already part of the S9, whether Samsung likes it or not.

To make matters even worse, Samsung insists on pushing Bixby with a dedicated hardware button. It started with the S8, extended to the Note 8, and is of course also on the S9. Samsung is going to keep trying to make Bixby happen until it doesn’t, apparently.

Fortunately, you can turn off the Bixby button. You can also disable Bixby Voice and Bixby Home. Or any combination of those options.

To disable the Bixby Button: Press the button to open Bixby Home, tap the cog icon in the upper right, and turn off its toggle
To disable Bixby Voice: Head to Bixby Home > Menu > Settings, and turn off the “Bixby Voice” toggle
To disable Bixby Home: Long press the home screen, swipe over to Bixby Home, and turn its toggle off

Or, even better—you can remap the button to be far more useful. Now that is awesome.

Change the Launcher

Samsung stock launcher is, well, lacking. It predominately features Bixby Home on the far left screen (unless, of course, you disable it). Otherwise, it’s just nothing special. If you’re looking to get more out of your home screens, it’s time to get rid of the “Samsung Experience” launcher and give something else a go.

There is no shortage of good launcher choices on Android, but our favorite is by far Nova Launcher. It’s powerful and insanely customizable, but still easy to get started with. If you already don’t like what Samsung has to offer on the home front, give it a go.

It’s also a great start making your phone feel more like stock Android.