Are AI buttons solving a real problem, or are they just another attempt by phone makers to stand out in a crowded market?
Is the dedicated AI button on your new smartphone a glimpse of the future, or just another fleeting experiment destined to fade away? As someone who’s spent two decades in the tech industry, I’ve seen many “game-changing” features come and go. The resurgence of physical buttons, this time for AI, raises a familiar question: are these buttons solving a real problem, or are they just another attempt by phone makers to stand out in a crowded market?
Physical buttons for digital assistants aren’t new. Back in 2017, Samsung introduced the Galaxy S8 with a dedicated Bixby button. The idea was straightforward: press the button, talk to Bixby, and get things done. But it didn’t work out as planned. Bixby struggled to match Google Assistant’s capabilities, and the button often got in the way. Users complained about accidental presses, and eventually, Samsung let people disable or remap it, the death knell for a single purpose button that was designed to increase engagement with a mission critical feature.
Other brands followed suit. LG added an assistant button to the G7 ThinQ in 2018, and Nokia did the same with the Nokia 3.2 and 4.2 in 2019. Google took a different approach with the Pixel 2 and 3, letting users squeeze the phone to launch Assistant with a feature called Active Edge. To be fair, this technology was first seen on HTC’s U11 as Edge Sense. By 2019, Google announced that 100 million smartphones would ship with dedicated assistant buttons. But these features didn’t last. Within a few years, most of these buttons disappeared or were repurposed.
The core issue was simple: most people didn’t use these buttons enough to justify their existence. The Bixby button, in particular, became a running joke with valuable hardware real estate given to a feature many users ignored or actively disliked. Google’s squeeze-to-activate feature was quietly retired after three Pixel generations, even if hardcore fans lamented its demise.
Unless the feature behind the button is truly indispensable, a dedicated button just feels like clutter. When users start demanding the ability to remap or disable a button, it’s a clear sign the feature isn’t resonating.
Fast forward to 2025, and AI buttons are making a comeback but this time with a twist. Now, these buttons aren’t just for launching a voice assistant. They’re gateways to a suite of generative and context-aware tools. The promises are bigger: summarizing notifications, transcribing conversations, saving and sorting on-screen content, and more.
Here are a few examples in recent months:
Even if a phone doesn’t have a dedicated button, many let you summon AI assistants with a long press of the power button. Apple and Google both stick with this approach for Siri and Gemini, respectively. It's taken me a few years to get used to the fact that a power menu no longer appears with that long press, in favor of the AI chatbot du jour.
If there’s one thing history teaches us, it’s that a dedicated button only works if the feature behind it is truly useful and frequently used. The previous generation of assistant buttons failed because they were seen as redundant or intrusive. Most users didn’t see enough value to justify a separate button, and many went out of their way to disable or remap them.
Surveys suggest that user enthusiasm for AI on smartphones remains limited. A CNET study found that 73% of iPhone users and 87% of Android users felt AI features added little or no value. In a Kantar study, only a small fraction cited AI as a primary reason for upgrading their phones. If companies try to monetize these features, as some are rumored to, user resistance could be even stronger.
After twenty years in tech, I’ve learned to separate hype from lasting value. AI buttons have real potential with features like instant screen capture, voice notes, and notification summaries that can be genuinely helpful, especially if they’re just one tap away. But the temptation to cram every possible AI function into a single button leads to clutter and confusion.
We’ve seen this before with Assistant 3rd party actions: when features become too broad or complicated, users face confusion and apathy and ultimately tune out.
The best implementations keep things simple and focused. If phone makers can deliver a tight, high-quality, and free set of features, an AI button might finally earn its place. But if it turns into a dumping ground for half-baked experiments or worse, paywalled features, it will go the way of the Bixby button.
The lesson from history is clear: usefulness, not novelty, determines what sticks. As always, the real test will be whether these buttons become essential tools or just another passing trend.
