Xbox One/360 Dashboard & Update Discussion (Retail/Beta/Preview Versions)

CatInABox

Windows Central has an exclusive on the future of the Xbox One, the highlights of which include updates to the guide (your Pins on the guide, easier access to the guide by having it a single press away rather than a double) and the removal of snap mode, with picture in picture mode replacing it.

See here.

This might sound odd but would it make sense to have a thread for the boards group and put up the boards usernames / xbox live gamertags.
No idea half the time who I jump into a game not knowing who they are on boards

MiskyBoyy

M!Ck^ wrote:

This might sound odd but would it make sense to have a thread for the boards group and put up the boards usernames / xbox live gamertags. No idea half the time who I jump into a game not knowing who they are on boards

Theres already a gamertag thread. Maybe people should put their boarda username as their "real name" on xbox.

qrx

MiskyBoyy wrote: »

Theres already a gamertag thread. Maybe people should put their boarda username as their "real name" on xbox.

I thought about doing that but problem is it'll be your name across all Microsoft products.

Is there another tag to use that's Xbox specific? Bio or something?

MiskyBoyy

qrx wrote:

I thought about doing that but problem is it'll be your name across all Microsoft products.

Agree, its annoying how it does that.

Jerichoholic

Just a quick question or three. I just bought Forza Horizon 3 for my PC, do I get a code for XBOX One too? If so where do I find it and can I give it to a friend or is it tied to my account?

Cheers

CatInABox

Jerichoholic wrote: »

Just a quick question or three. I just bought Forza Horizon 3 for my PC, do I get a code for XBOX One too? If so where do I find it and can I give it to a friend or is it tied to my account?

Cheers

Don't think it's a code for your Xbox, I think it's just on your account automatically.

Jerichoholic

CatInABox wrote: »

Don't think it's a code for your Xbox, I think it's just on your account automatically.

Ok thanks!

Tilikum

I'm trying to download the BBC iplayer onto my 360. But when I search/Browse the apps, it's not there? There is an icon on the app home screen but when I go into that it just gives the option to 'pin to home' or 'rate'

I'm I doing something wrong?

MJohnston

Tilikum wrote: »

I'm trying to download the BBC iplayer onto my 360. But when I search/Browse the apps, it's not there? There is an icon on the app home screen but when I go into that it just gives the option to 'pin to home' or 'rate'

I'm I doing something wrong?

Is your box set to UK region?

Tilikum

MJohnston wrote: »

Is your box set to UK region?

I'd say so. I've had it yrs & never switched it.

Updates 3 days in a row , I still have the problem when you open the guide for the first time it's on settings instead of friends.

MJohnston

New update incoming:

OS version: 10.0.14393.2152 (rs1_xbox_rel_1610 161208-1218) fre

Release date: 12/14/2016

Performance and general improvements

Download performance

We've made several optimizations to game and app downloads on Xbox One.
Customers with high-speed connections (greater than 100Mbps) should experience up to 80% faster download speeds.
Customers with connections less than 100Mbps should experience more consistent performance that is up to 40% faster than before.
Additional optimizations have also made background downloads more resilient to intermittent connectivity issues.
Download speeds will be influenced by network contention within the home and at the ISP level. Download speeds will also be impacted when games are running on the console as system resources are prioritized for gameplay over background downloads. For more information, visit Troubleshoot slow game or app downloads on Xbox One.

Wireless controller

Firmware update to improve performance.

Background Music

General performance improvements for added reliability and consistent experiences across steaming music apps.

Miscellaneous

General stability and performance improvements.

CatInABox

That's a retail release as well, not a preview release, so everyone is getting it now.

fataleight

Yes got that update last night and was wondering what it was about, went looking online and could find nothing.

So now I know
Thanks lads.

wotzgoingon

Got that update about 10 mins ago.

People with 100Mb or faster can see big improvements. Well that's great for them, they always had faster than me. I'm stuck on a 3Mb connection.

wotzgoingon

Just to add. I wonder how the new update will affect fast download connections. Xbox always had fast downloads compared to PS. Someone over on PC forum told me that even though they had a high speed connection the Play Station still downloaded extremely slow.

wotzgoingon

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Just to add. I wonder how the new update will affect fast download connections. Xbox always had fast downloads compared to PS. Someone over on PC forum told me that even though they had a high speed connection the Play Station still downloaded extremely slow.

Only thing I can think of is they (sony) throttle or limit connections or they have very poorly implemented infrastructure and load balancing, they do have more users but are likely using some of the same data centers as MS or even MS ones . That said the fact that Xbox had to issue a system update to improve speed was interesting, points more to network drivers or OS there like say for example download speeds peaking at 50mbps on a 250mbps connection I'd say the one had an old g rated NIC in it or something.

Fingleberries

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Got that update about 10 mins ago.

People with 100Mb or faster can see big improvements. Well that's great for them, they always had faster than me. I'm stuck on a 3Mb connection.

According to the blurb, users on lines greater than 100Mb/s should see "up to" 80% download speed improvement. Users on a line slower than 100Mb/s should see download speed increases of "up to" 40%.

Not much on a 3Mb/s line but any improvement helps, I'd say.

CatInABox

Just to bump this again, looks like they're getting ready to roll out the next update to preview members soon, judging by the Xbox Live Message I got from them, and Mike Ybarra literally saying it was "Very soon".

https://twitter.com/XboxQwik/status/823254261492424704

Coming in this update is an updated guide, which will now be only one click away, instead of the double click.

Here's a video of it in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sO1kcK2SfA

Please be aware that as this is the first release of a major update, it may be pretty rough, with bugs galore. It'll also mean they'll be flinging updates out pretty often, possibly as often as once per night, so if you're not okay with loads of bandwidth being used up, be sure to move out of the preview.

One press for guide is nice, find it's very hit or miss with a double press on the never pads or at least on the gears ones. I have to do it with my index finger instead of my thumb :mad:

EDIT: Thanks for saying you got a message CatInABox, forgot those live messages don't generate notifications for me so when I checked my messages I had one too.

CatInABox

New update will be rolling out for select preview members tonight.

Major Nelson has the details here.

Looks to be a pretty large update to the system, the home screen has a new look and all.

Major Nelson wrote:

An updated look at Home: One of the first things you’ll notice is a new look for Home. Through the Insider program, we’ve received feedback from Xbox One gamers that the UI can be complex and for certain tasks, can require too many button presses. Our goal is to simplify the UI and increase overall system performance, and that starts with updating Home based on what you care most about for the games you play. To do that, we’ve optimized for speed and are surfacing to you the most valuable content for your games. You’ll notice the main tile for what you’re currently playing has changed. Now, you’ll see a smaller icon for the game and a few options to dive deeper into the Game Hub, interact with your Club or LFG for that game, view your Achievements, and more. The updated Home also celebrates the game you’re currently playing with hero art in the background when you’re not using a custom background.

Faster and more intuitive Guide: The next thing you’re likely to notice is that Guide has been updated. With one press of the Xbox button on your controller, you can pull up the newly enhanced Guide as an overlay on the left side of your screen, no matter what you’re doing. With the Guide, we’ve added new features and functionality. You’ll notice that there’s a new start page. This page is designed to get you to the content you care about most, including your games and apps, Home, Store, your recently played games and apps, and your top Pins. It also features quick access to your media controls when playing background music.

New way to multitask: In addition to adding a new start page to Guide, we’re also evolving our multitasking system. To simplify discoverability and to make it much quicker to get to the things you care about most, our multitasking features will also be designed to work well with the new Guide. In addition to quick access to music, screen shots and GameDVR will be one button press away. You can bring up Guide and press “X” or “Y” on your controller to record your favorite gaming moments. We’ve also added a new achievement tracker which allows you to track your favorite achievements and play at the same time. The new Guide is also where you will be able to broadcast instantly to Beam when we roll that out to Insiders in the next couple of weeks.

Cortana gaming enhancements: There are a series of new Cortana updates to make your Xbox One smarter. In this update, you can set reminders and alarms so you don’t miss gaming sessions. In the coming weeks, we will be releasing more Cortana updates to enhance your gaming experience even more as well as continued performance and reliability updates.

Improving system updates: Our goal with system updates is that you never have to worry about them again, and to make it clearer when a system update is available. To enable this we are updating the interface so the steps are easy to understand. We’re also going to enable every Xbox One owner to keep their console, games, and apps up to date independent of which power mode they have chosen.

Enabling Xbox One to be accessible for everyone: One important area for us with this release is to enable Xbox One to be able to be used and played by everyone. Take for instance our new Copilot feature which allows two controllers to act as if they were one. This will help make Xbox One more inviting to new gamers needing assistance, more fun by adding cooperative controls for any game, and easier for players who need unique configurations to play — whether that is with hands apart, hand and chin, hand and foot, etc.. We are also adding new enhancements to Magnifier and Narrator, as well as giving more options over audio output and custom rumble settings on a controller, which was previously reserved for the Xbox Elite Controller. You can find these accessibility options, and more, in Settings > Ease of Access.

New spatial audio output settings for developers: To enable more immersive experiences for Xbox One, we have added a number of audio output features in Settings. If you are a developer on Xbox One, the new settings will allow you to add Dolby Atmos for Home Theater, Dolby Atmos for Headphones, and Windows HRTF support to your streaming media application or game. For Xbox One owners, hang tight and soon you’ll be able experience even more incredible audio on your console.

Blu-ray player bitstream passthrough beta: The Blu-ray disc player on Xbox One now supports a beta of bitstream passthrough, which allows your receiver to decode audio natively. All bitstream formats are supported, including newer ones like Dolby Atmos.

Some nice polish in there, and fantastic that they're increasing accessability for those that need it.

runawaybishop

More intuitive guide. Huh.

MJohnston

Ooh, I love me a good UI overhaul. Not sure how I feel about the loss of the live tile of the currently active app or game, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Wonder is this the update where they've killed Snapping. I might be one of the few that'll really miss that feature.

I thought the combining of two pads for use as one was pretty cool, that might open up things to a number of people who might otherwise not be able to play or if I'm ever unfortunate to say break my arm or something I means I can still game with help

runawaybishop

MJohnston wrote: »

Ooh, I love me a good UI overhaul. Not sure how I feel about the loss of the live tile of the currently active app or game, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Wonder is this the update where they've killed Snapping. I might be one of the few that'll really miss that feature.

Twitch was pretty much the only app that was every really snapped. Snapping is also very resource intensive

CatInABox

I'm downloading the update now. I thought that it wouldn't be out until 2 am, like it used to be.

The fancy new update screen is there as well, didn't think it would take affect until the next update.

EDIT: Having had a quick mess about with the guide, I'm leaning towards good changes so far. It provides easy access to Gamerscore leaderboard, so that's finally a feature that's useful again. It's also got your pins on the main tab, along with you recent games, and a link to "my games and apps".

The achievement tracker is also pretty good, an overlay that you can move about that helps you track your progress on achievements.

All in all, it's pretty nice so far.

CatInABox

I've been locked out of the Xbox Preview forums again, but apparently they're opening up the preview program to anyone now, all you need to do is sign up on the Xbox Insider Hub and you can get access to the preview.

It's being divided up in four rings:

Xbox One Update Preview Alpha – The first Preview ring, this group typically receives 2-3 new system updates per week during a Preview Update wave. Preview Alpha is the cutting edge, and users in this group receive access to new features and fixes as soon as possible at the expense of potential bugs.
Xbox One Update Preview Beta – The second Preview ring, this group typically receives 1-2 new system updates per week during a Preview Update wave. Preview Beta users receive frequent system updates and early access to new features and fixes, with somewhat less risk of encountering bugs.
Xbox One Update Preview Ring 3 – The third Preview ring, this group typically receives 2-3 new system updates per month during a Preview Update wave. Preview Ring 3 users receive infrequent system updates, and is suited for users who want early access to new features and fixes with less risk of encountering bugs.
Xbox One Update Preview Ring 4 – The fourth and final Preview ring, this group typically receives new system updates about once per month. Preview Ring 4 users receive system updates which are almost ready for public release, and thus receive the fewest system updates and are least likely to encounter bugs. In some cases, Preview Ring 4 users may also receive updated versions of the current publicly released build incorporating new fixes.

Access to the Alpha, Beta and Ring 3 are restricted to those that have a high Xbox Insider score, so complete quests and surveys, etc, to get invited.

See here.

CatInABox

MJohnston wrote: »

Ooh, I love me a good UI overhaul. Not sure how I feel about the loss of the live tile of the currently active app or game, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Wonder is this the update where they've killed Snapping. I might be one of the few that'll really miss that feature.

Apparently, the live tile was one of the main reasons the guide was slow to open, so getting rid of it makes sense.

In general, the new guide is much faster to open and navigate, but the home screen itself sometimes crawls now. That's almost certainly down to the alpha nature of it, so I'm not worried about it.

One thing i'll be filing feedback for is the achievements section on the guide shows the leaderboards by default now and you have to press another button to switch to achievements.