Samsung will shut down Bixby feature that bribed you to use it

Samsung’s Bixby assistant had a rough time of it. Not only did no one want to use the assistant, but Samsung even recognized that it’d have to bribe users to do so. The company announced this week that it’s shutting down those gamification efforts — called My Bixby Level — on August 10th. The feature rewarded users for playing with and learning how to use Bixby. They received new background color options and Samsung Pay points that could be cashed in for discounts or toward contest entries to win Samsung products. The background colors will still be available to use and might be made available to everyone; it’s unclear from Samsung’s messaging.

It used to be super easy to earn these points, like you’d receive them just from issuing some Bixby commands. But it was later made slightly more complicated, which likely means Samsung realized that lots of people were carrying out these simple tasks and raking in gift cards in return. Its bribery system worked! The company no longer needs to incentivize people to use its assistant. I’m happy for all you people who were truly dedicated to the gift card-earning game to the point that you were willing to use Bixby for extended periods of time. That’s true commitment.

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