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Because of the inclusion of all players within the ecosystem, the Series X, Series S, One, and One X all have the same UI. This would normally damper a bit of excitement when booting up the newest console for players already in the ecosystem, but this UI is so polished and quick that it’s impossible to be mad. Xbox One and One X users got to experience the UI for the last few weeks, and Xbox Insiders got to experience it even longer, but what are some details of the UI that everyone may not have noticed?
10 Snappy UI
Unlike past iterations, Xbox’s newest UI is extremely sleek and without any nonsense, but the speed at which users can navigate the menus is the real star. It’s mind-boggling how quick and easy navigating from the home screen to the games and then from the game library to the store really is. Of course, it’s something everyone will be taking for granted after they’ve had some time with it, but for right now this is certainly the first thing users will notice, especially if upgrading from a base Xbox One or even the more powerful Xbox One X.
9 Arranging Games By Console
The amount of games available to play on the Xbox Series X is absolutely baffling, and that’s due in part to its backward compatible capabilities allowing gamers to play hundreds upon hundreds of games across every generation of Xbox. Players would think organizing these games might be a pain, but that’s where they’d be wrong. A neat little trick in the game library is the ability to sort all of these games by the generation or console they are from.
8 Quickly Go To Game Pass Or Store From Xbox Home Button Guide
The Home Button Guide can be used for a multitude of things, but what matters the most on a gaming console with the power to play almost any Xbox game in existence? Games. Xbox owners can access the Xbox Store and Game Pass applications at the bottom of the Home Button Guide regardless of where they are inside the console.
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Game Pass is an incredible subscription service that offers hundreds of games now with the addition of EA Play, but more games are coming every month so being able to check back in at a moment’s notice is crucial.
7 New Store Design
Xbox’s old store design was clunky, slow, and populated with too many different options that still didn’t seem to get users where they wanted to be. Selecting an option like New Games used to load and pull up an entirely new menu to select from once again. However, Xbox’s newest storefront is precise, accurate, and straight to the point. Combined with the power of the new generation and the snappiness of the UI, looking at new games is an absolute breeze.
6 Quick Access Menus On The Store Page
One of the biggest features of the new store’s UI is the quick access menu that pops up when users analog all the way over to the left or press the Select button. Instead of scrolling through hundreds of games and apps to find the right one, users can easily access this menu and select Games, Movies & TV, and Apps with ease. Each category has its own pop-out menu with subcategories like New Games, Top Free, and Top Rented Movies to name a few. It also makes it extremely easy to redeem those 1 Month Game Pass Ultimate codes with just a quick click.
5 Customize The Home Button Guide
The Xbox Home Button is how gamers interact with their systems while still being in games. Users can read messages, look at who is all online, and even access Quick Resume games, but Series X owners already knew this.
What owners probably didn’t know is that they can customize the Home Button Guide to change the order of the menus. Users only need to head over to their profile image after tapping the Home Button and select “Customize the guide.” From here they can swap the order of the menus that appear when hitting the Home Button.
4 Customize Home Screen
The Home Screen has come along way since the days of the Xbox 360 or even previous iterations of the Xbox One’s Home Screen. The card function that is heavily prevalent within Microsoft’s Windows 8, which Microsoft pushed really hard for years, has been almost entirely done away with.
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Now the games and most frequently used apps are on their own and easy to access. But Xbox owners can make the Home Screen even more relevant by pressing Select to customize what they would like pinned to their Home Screen. Users can add specific games that populate with all sorts of useful information or specific apps so they know exactly where to go at all times.
3 Customize Background
The Xbox offers a surprising amount of customization, letting players really take ownership of their rather expensive gaming machine. This doesn’t just stop at the Home Screen or Guide but continues into the actual background behind the Home Screen. Backgrounds are fairly new to the Xbox ecosystem with past iterations having only a black or white backdrop. Now players can make this background game art from whatever game currently selected, art from an achievement, a particularly good screenshot, or even a custom image of their choosing.
2 Profile Theme
Gamers heading over to My Profile will be able to do even more customization. Recently Xbox added tons of new themes for gamers to show off on their profile cards. Users can select Cyberpunk 2077 themes, Destiny 2: Beyond Light themes, or even use a Series X or S theme. They can also change their profile image and preferred color in this menu, all of which show up when other gamers view the user’s profile.
1 Dark Mode
There is not a gamer in the world who doesn’t enjoy a nice Dark Mode setting on their favorite applications. It’s elegant and just all-around much easier on the eye, allowing users to use applications for far greater lengths of time. Thankfully the Xbox Series X has you covered in those regards. From the Home Screen’s customization menu, users can select the Theme & Motion option which allows users to change the transition of the Home Screen movement but also more importantly change their Home Guide’s background color from white to black.
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