Xbox One Preview Program Members Receiving First Update of 2016

Written by Brandon Hofer on January 19, 2016

News: Microsoft is rolling out a new Xbox One update to preview program members that focuses on the social aspect of gaming and more.

Xbox One preview program members are about to get a new set of features to test out. Major Nelson revealed earlier today that the first big update of 2016 is almost here and preview program members should start receiving the update, if you haven’t received it already. A good portion of this update focuses on the social aspect of being on Xbox One but there are a few other items as well, including a feature that I have been wanting ever since the new dashboard was released in November.

The new features that will be available for preview program members include:

Hide Games From ‘Ready to Install’ List - This was a really great feature in the original OS for the Xbox One but was taken away when the New Xbox One Experience was released. Microsoft is now bringing it back so that your list isn’t cluttered with demos, betas, trials and games that you no longer want.

Gamerscore Leaderboard - Another feature that we used to have in the old OS, the Gamerscore Leaderboard is back. You simply go to the Achievements section of your profile by clicking ‘View Achievements’ through the sign-in tab of the guide to check out the revived Gamerscore Leaderboard. For those who aren’t familiar with this feature and never really used it when it was there before, this is essentially a way to see where you rank with your friends by comparing both your total gamerscore as well as the gamerscore you have earned over the past 30 days.

See Who Is In A Party - Once you install this update you will now be able to see who is in a party before joining. Now when you view the profile of one of your friends who is in a party you will be able to see who they are playing with so you can decide whether or not you want to join. You can also click the ‘Chat’ button which appears immediately below the user to jump in and see who is in the party.

Joinable Twitch Broadcasts - It will now be even easier to join that Twitch broadcast that your friend is hosting. You can now go into the Game Hub as well as the game tile to easily launch Twitch broadcasts if a friend is broadcasting.

Re-arrange Pins on Home and Access Them Offline - With this new update you will now be able to reorganize your pins on your Xbox One. You will be able to rearrange individual pins and pins have also been made accessible for launching even if you are offline.

Improvements to Suggested Friends - There is now a new “Friends Suggestions” area in Community and the Friends list in the Guide. These suggestions will include gamertag, your real name (if you have shared it), gamerpic or Xbox Avatar image and the reason that person is being suggested to you. You can click through the suggestion to view the full profile.

Updating Activity Feed - The activity feed on your Xbox One will now inform you when there are new items to see. You can click on the link that will take you to the top of your feed where you will see the newest posts so that you have the most up-to-date information at your fingertips.

There are some other items coming as well but those are the highlights. If you would like the full and complete list then you can visit Major Nelson’s website by clicking the link below. Which feature(s) would you like to see added next? Tell us what you think below.

source: Major Nelson