Xbox's April update brings small but worthwhile updates to their App experience and cloud streaming offering, with a few new console features too.
Xbox continues to revamp their UI across multiple devices, and today they announced several changes to the Xbox App. In addition, they streamlined their Remote Play abilities, actually removing that from the app altogether, and added a new feature on Console called the Game Hub. Read below for full details on what they announced today.
Previously announced in October, Xbox is finally letting people purchase games and DLC through the Xbox App, as well as sign up for Game Pass and redeem Perks. You’ll be able to purchase or pre-order games, and set them to install on Console all from your phone. The buy button will show up for those who already have a saved form of payment registered with their account.
These features will start to roll out to beta users on iOS and Android and will be available soon for everyone on the Google Play Store on Android devices and the Apple Store.
As of today, Game Pass Ultimate members can now choose to stream select games they own in addition to the Game Pass catalog on their Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles. This is a major win for those who need space on their consoles and can take advantage of the games available to stream. With Xbox leaning heavily on “Play Anywhere” now, cloud streaming further allows players to make their gaming library as flexible as they want it to be. For a full list of the games you can stream, visit Xbox’s library here.
One feature removed from the Xbox app was the Remote Play function. In an effort to streamline this offering, Xbox says that players can access the feature through any web-browser by visiting xbox.com/remoteplay. Basically just unifying the experience across mobile, desktop and tablet.
They also announced, players will soon be able to access Remote Play on supported Samsung Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV devices, Meta Quest headsets and more.
Rounding out their announcement, Xbox is updating how players can save space on their consoles with more detailed tools for removing unused DLCs or game files that can be reduced. Plus, they're adding a new feature called Game Hub, which essentially brings the screen you’re used to seeing from a game in the Store to you as you try and open a game (see above). It will show friends playing that game, your past achievements and content captures, etc. You can disable this feature in settings so you don’t have to click twice to open a game.
Overall, UI and settings updates can feel pretty trivial, but honestly we’ll take anything that helps players save space and access their games in more ways. A small but worthwhile W for Xbox players.
For the full details from Xbox’s press release, read here.
