Xbox One March Software Update: Beam Streaming and Updated UI Among Major Changes
Microsoft has just released the new software update for the Xbox One on Wednesday, March 29, and it's pretty substantial. The update comes in at just a little under 1 GB and boasts enough changes that it can be considered an overhaul of the Xbox interface. What other changes has Microsoft made to the Xbox One software?
One of the headlines for this batch of Xbox software changes is the new Beam streaming feature, an alternative to Twitch that Microsoft is offering to players as a streaming solution that is better integrated into the console. The new interface simplifies streaming to what essentially amounts to a "press to stream" button. Whether it will be enough to sway Twitch die-hards remains to be seen, at least according to Techno Buffalo.
One of the first things that an Xbox owner will see from the new update is the simplified Home screen, and one designed for a simplified user interface (UI) that does not have much impact on the overall system performance. The new Home screen now shows the game that the player is currently running as its background, provided that no custom background has been chosen by the owner beforehand, as shown by the official Xbox announcement post.
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Another optimized section of the Xbox user interface is the new guide that now comes as an overlay on the left side of the screen. Also, recording video and screenshots have also been streamlined to enable players to capture game footage with a simple press of the button.
Xbox has also added some family-oriented features. The new Copilot feature lets two separate controllers function as if they were one. The new family timer feature is now called Screen time limits and is now available on the Xbox one. Now, parents can set and limit the "Screen time" for each of their children playing with the Xbox.
