You can now (completely) kill the Bixby button on the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8

Samsung has released a much-requested update for the Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. The upgrade, which isn’t your standard software upgrade, but rather an overhaul for all three versions of the Bixby client—Bixby, Bixby Home and Bixby Service—on Galaxy Apps, introduces the option to completely disable the physical Bixby button.

It’s best to look at this latest update as an extension to the one the firm distributed for all three smartphones back in September, building on the option to prevent the key from launching Bixby Home when pressed, by introducing a setting to stop it taking any action whatsoever (no, it won’t even wake your handset).

That’s not all, though. Bixby Service, the utility that analyses saved contacts when a call command is issued, has also been improved, as noted by the folks over at SamMobile, leading us to believe that Bixby Voice has finally been equipped with the facility to recognize foreign names stored in your address book.