Xbox One April System Update Available In Preview

Xbox brand evangelist Larry Hryb, also known as “Major Nelson,” has announced on his blog that members of the Xbox One preview program will receive some new updates over the coming weeks. The updates are meant to test and preview the upcoming improvements to the Xbox One in April before being released to the general public.

The April system update for the Xbox One will have several new improvements, but there are three that were specifically called out by Major Nelson.

• Party Chat Improvements
• Game Hub Links
• Achievement Notifications

The party chat improvements center around better troubleshooting for Xbox One owners who are experiencing issues with the party chat feature. The majority of the feedback has centered around the microphone not working within the parties. An improved troubleshooting system should better assist gamers on how to fix the issue before having to access support online. The improved party chat will now display the reason for trouble if available, similar to the PlayStation 4’s notifications on NAT settings that prevent some users from hearing each other.

The gaming hub, originally introduced in February, will be receiving a much-needed fix as well. The original idea of the game hub was similar to the PlayStation 4’s implementation of feeds showing what friends are accomplishing with the same game you are playing, trending videos and streams related to the game, and so on. The Xbox One game hub functions in a similar fashion, according to the original notes on the feature. The improvements in the April Xbox One update include links to the game hub from within activity feed items such as friend notifications, screenshots, videos and achievements.

Achievements are also getting a small change, but one that will have a much more profound impact on the gaming experience. The April Xbox One update will make it so a description of the achievement will appear in addition to the achievement’s title and score amount. This new feature will eliminate the need to exit the game and enter the achievements page to see exactly what you did to earn said achievement. Xbox One owners who still want to go to the achievements app will find a faster loading time as well making the switch back and forth much less bothersome.

No release date has been set for the April Xbox One update, but Major Nelson told Xbox One Preview program members to check in next week for a second wave of features to be added to the preview program. With the Xbox One claiming an 84 percent rise in sales, as the Inquisitr has reported previously, the Microsoft console is making good strides with the preview program by engaging their community in the hopes of closing the gap from Sony’s seemingly unstoppable PlayStation 4.

The Inquisitr will cover this additional information as it becomes available, so be sure to bookmark our gaming feed.

[Image Source: Microsoft]