After weeks of speculation, it was finally confirmed a couple of weeks ago that the One UI 2.1 update is indeed in development for the Galaxy Note 9 and the Galaxy S9. There still seems to be a few weeks to go before the update is released.
There were reports that some features may not make the cut and now we have confirmation of one such feature not being included in the update straight from the company itself. Bixby Routines will not be present on the One UI 2.1 update for these devices.
Galaxy Note 9 One UI 2.1 update misses out on Bixby Routines
Samsung introduced the Bixby Routines feature with the Galaxy S10 lineup last year. The feature works on the If This Then That (IFTTT) principle. If a certain condition is met, Bixby will only carry out the function assigned to it.
The customization options here are endless. For example, you can set up a Bixby Routine for the Always On Display to be turned on immediately when the device is plugged in for charging. You can also have it auto-rotate the screen in landscape mode when the Gallery app is opened.
What's great about this feature is that Bixby Routines is smart enough to go back to the original setting once the pre-condition for it to trigger is no longer there. So in the abovementioned examples, the Always On Display would be disabled when the device was removed from the charger and the screen would rotate back to portrait mode when you exited the Gallery app.
Users have been asking about whether Bixby Routines would be included in the Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy S9 One UI 2.1 update on Samsung Korea's official forums. A definitive answer has now been provided by the development team. Apparently they did try to tinker with memory optimization in order to make Bixby Routines work on these devices but it was ultimately decided to ditch the feature.
The decision was most likely made in the interest of providing better user experience. There's still no word as to when we can expect this firmware update to arrive for the Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy S9.
