New Changes Coming to Xbox One Look and Sound Great
The Xbox One dashboard is changing once more, and Xbox Insiders are the first to give it a spin.
The new system date won’t be rolling out officially until later this year — we’re guessing in time for the Xbox One X launch — but those in the Xbox Insiders Preview program get to test out some of the changes starting today.
Probably the most significant change is the ability to customize your Home screen and personalize it with the info you consider the most important. You’ll be able to add more items to the Home screen like specific games or friends. When you add something to Home, this creates a block of content that can be moved up or down, or even removed altogether, making your Home menu fully customizable. These blocks of content will be evolving over time as well, meaning new information is tailored to you depending on what’s been added to Home. For example, adding games may bring up an Activity Feed post from the developer, show your next Achievement, show if your friends are playing it, and so on.
Guide navigation is also getting a nice makeover so it’s easy to get to your tasks (broadcasts, party chat, settings) more efficiently. The overall speed of switching between the tabs has also been improved. The tabs are now horizontal and don’t fill up the entire screen anymore. The tabs are Sign-in, Achievements, multiplayer, People, Home and recent, messages, broadcasts, captures, and a new action center (including settings).
The Community section has been updated with a modern look and is now easier to sift through. Clicking on feed items brings the content up in full-screen now and the comments section is easier to read because it can be expanded. Game Hubs, Profiles, and Clubs have been refreshed to make them more interesting, making the Community tab actually something you want to browse through.
The latest update isn’t just for Xbox One owners; Windows 10 gamers are receiving the same great features as well as including a new Game Bar. You’ll be able to enable or disable Game mode with a new switch button, or choose how you want to broadcast on Mixer, and more.
These aren’t the only changes coming to Xbox One and Windows 10. Updates to Avatars, Game Hubs, Profiles, and more are planned for later this Fall.
If you’re part of the Insiders program, tell us your thoughts on the above changes in the comments below.