[Samsung Galaxy S8 Guides, News, & Discussion] beugologist:
The bixby button is an absolute waste of a physical key on samsungs part, and ever since I got my S8 a little over a month ago I've been trying to find a way to completely remap the key without any of this bypass nonsense that flashes bixby for a moment before proceeding with your action, or returning to your home screen etc. I'm currently using a rooted S8 on renovate ice r155, with the latest AIO gestures & Tasker.

I highly recommend using MiXplorer as a root explorer, you will need one for this. Basic knowledge on using tasker will help too.

Thanks to redplate, j91co & kuaka as I've pieced together their help in order to make this work on my phone.

Links to threads here:

https://xdaforums.com/galaxy-s8+/how-to/root-remap-bixby-button-o-app-t3601061/page10

https://xdaforums.com/s7-active/how-to/how-to-tasker-to-assign-flashlight-t3396760

So I have made a little tutorial on how to re-assign the key; this must be done manually and does not require an app for anything other than more extensive actions.

Therefore there are two parts to this: manually re-assign the key, and linking the key to all in one gestures.

Re-assign the key:

(1) Open a root explorer, and navigate to root: /system/usr/keylayout

(2) Copy generic.kl and rename the copy to generic.kl.bak

(3) Open generic.kl and edit as text; either rename to .txt and revert back or use MiXplorer to edit directly

(4) Find '703'; it should look like # input_fw Intelligent Key for Dream key 703 WAKE (or 'WINK' depending on device version, its ok)

(5) Simply rename the entry in capitals, for example WINK to VOLUME_DOWN

(6) Save the file, reboot.

(7) If any issues, restore the backup.

Link to AIO Gestures & Tasker

For this example I'm going to show you how to use AIO gestures with Tasker to toggle the flashlight with the bixby key.

(1) Manually re assign the key as shown in the first part: use something not commonly used. I used the function DVR. Save & reboot after changing this.

(2) Download tasker & AIO gestures. Grant root permissions and accessibility permissions in settings.

(3) Open AIO gestures and go to the hard keys section; 3 dots in top corner > custom keys

(4) Press bixby, it should display what you assigned it to. In my case it showed DVR. Press add.

(5) It will now be shown in the list of hard keys. Press it once to open the menu. You can choose anything you like, im going to assign it to a tasker shortcut:

(6) Swipe to the 'shortcut' section and scroll down to task shortcut

(7) Add a new task, and filter for 'torch'. Set ' toggle'. Press back, and again.

You should now have your bixby key bound to flashlight. I've tested this and it works from the AOD too. Enjoy, and please give credit to the great oaks who figured this all out cus im a flop and couldn't have done it without them ;)

Of course if you know how to use tasker and stuff you can do whatever you want with this, take full advantage of that button! F#ck samsung for forcing the stain bixby is into our devices.

by is on us.

I haven't tested myself, but apparently this method also works with all of the bixby apps removed.

If somebody would like to incorporate this into an app, that'd be mad and you'd be a legend for doing so.

Here is a list of some actions I have accumulated from some threads you can assign to the key:

VOLUME_DOWN

VOLUME_UP

HOME

POWER - Power menu

MUSIC - starts your favorite music player

CAMERA - Open camera

APP_SWITCH - App switcher

VOICE_ASSIST - Google Assistant

SYSRQ - Take screenshot

CALENDAR - Open default calendar

CONTACTS - default contacts

MESSAGE - Default messenger