Samsung's Bixby was announced over two years ago and it's been the main assistant in Galaxy flagship phones since then. It has become one of the most reviled digital assistants out there, mostly because of how Samsung tries to force it on people. Samsung's Bixby Marketplace tries to change that by making it more useful. The Marketplace allows developers to build and add their own services to Bixby.

This Bixby Marketplace feature is finally going live for everyone today. It was announced back at Samsung Developer Conference 2018 as Samsung's way to open Bixby to more developers and allow more apps to support it. There has been a closed beta for the development tools since November 2018.

Bixby Marketplace

The marketplace is available in the US on any Bixby 2.0 compatible device. All you need to do is update Bixby through the Samsung Galaxy Store. The Bixby Marketplace will be a swipe away on the home screen and it allows you to see all the supported apps and services within Bixby. If you see one that isn't included in Bixby, you can select it and add it to your device.

It has been almost 8 months since Samsung first announced the Bixby Marketplace closed beta. Developers have had access to test and publish capsules all this time. However, on launch day, there is a total of two new capsules. Every other service, like Uber, Yelp, 1-800 Flowers, and others, has been there since Bixby 2.0 was announced with the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. This is a disappointing launch of a new service that Samsung has dedicated a hardware button to on many flagship phones.

If you are one of the few people interested in the Bixby Marketplace, you can download the update from the Galaxy Store in the United States today. Samsung has yet to give out a release schedule for outside of the United States. If you are interested in developing for the Bixby Marketplace, you can check out the Bixby Developer Center for more info.

Source: Samsung's Bixby Developer Blog