If you own a new smartphone from Samsung – Samsung Galaxy C21 then you must know about the function called the Bixby key. This function allows you to quickly call the Bixby voice assistant by pressing just one button. However, it also has other functions that users can manually configure themselves.

What you need to customize the side keys combinations in Samsung Galaxy S21

Today’s smartphones are very smart devices that have many different functions on board. This can refer to both software functions and various functions that are associated with pressing the physical buttons and activation of the hidden features of your device. In most devices, such functions are related to the activation of voice assistants.

Voice assistants are really convenient because with their help you can maximally simplify everyday tasks. Instead of, for example, manually setting the alarm clock you can ask your voice assistant to do it.

Or with its help, you can find out the weather, the situation on the roads, various news and trivial things that you might be interested in. This is a very convenient and modern way to work with your smartphone.

Since voice assistants have been used more and more by ordinary users lately, different companies have started to release their own voice assistants and try to integrate them into their systems. Among the most famous are Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and of course Samsung’s voice assistant, Bixby.

Bixby was developed by Samsung in 2017. Today they equip all their gadgets with it. In addition, Samsung smartphones and tablets have developed special side-key combinations with which users can call Bixby.

However, not everyone knows that these combinations can be customized and other functions can be assigned to them.

What are side key combinations

If you own a recent version of a Samsung smartphone, you can see that instead of the power button you now own a so-called side key or Bixby button.

In fact, this is essentially the same power button, only slightly improved. Several additional functions have been added to it which can be activated by pressing it. Apart from that, it’s still used to disconnect and lock smartphones. Among the main functions of the Power key now are:

• Bixby Voice: Long press the Side key.
• Turn screen on or off: Short press the Side key.
• Power on: Long press the Side key while the phone is off.
• Screen capture: Short press the Side and Volume down key simultaneously.
• Power off menu: Long press the Side and Volume down key simultaneously while the phone is on.
• Launch Camera or open app: Double press the Side key to open your desired choice.

The SideKey can currently be found in devices like

• Note10
• Note20
• S20
• S21
• Z Fold series
• A50
• A51
• A71
• A52 5G

As you can see these are all actual models of smartphones from Samsung. In newer smartphones, the company plans to continue replacing the power button with a Side Key or Bixby button.

How to customize side key

In fact, in addition to the standard functions, the side key can also perform various custom functions. For example, with it, you can quickly open the camera at the right moment or run the app which you set up beforehand for launching by pushing this button.

Changing the function by pressing the side key or Bixby button is actually quite simple. To do so, you need to:

• Open the Settings app on your Samsung device.
• Then in the list, find and go to the Advanced tab
• Then select the Side key. Here you will have two scenarios for pressing the side key.
• For double–pressing you can choose to set :
  • Automatically start the camera.
  • Launch any app of your choice on your smartphone.
• To press and hold, you will have a choice to choose from:
  • Calling Bixby.
  • Or open the power menu. You can also use the Quick settings panel or Bixby to turn off your phone.

You can use these easy settings to quickly configure various features on your Side K to make your smartphone even more comfortable to use.

How to customize your Bixby Key

In addition to the standard side key, some models have a key that is designed only to call Bixby. However, it can also be customized and used for several different functions.

To do this you need:

• Press the Bixby key to open the Bixby Assistant Home.
• Then simply tap on the three horizontal lines to open the Menu.
• After that, click on the name of your desired device.
• Tap Settings and then tap Bixby key.
• Here you can select the settings for the Bixby button. Here you can set separate functions for single and double tapping. This is quite handy.

So you can also customize the Bixby key if you don’t want to use it to communicate with Samsung’s voice assistant.