Xbox One Interface Receiving Major Overhaul in Upcoming Fall Update

Written by Brandon Hofer on August 07, 2017

News: Major Nelson has revealed that the Xbox One is going to be receiving a new interface this fall and some preview members can check it out now.

Major Nelson has revealed that the Xbox One user interface is going to get a major facelift this fall and that Alpha Ring users in the Insiders Program will start seeing some of it today. With this new interface you will have the ability to customize your Home area as you see fit. For those in the alpha ring of testers you will receive updates to Home, Guide and Community today. Updates to Avatars, Game Hubs, Profiles and more will come later leading up to the general release this fall. While Microsoft has not given us a release date for this update my guess is they are planning to release it en masse around November 7 when the Xbox One X launches. I don’t have any inside information, it is just a hunch.

With the new “Home” on Xbox One your startup screen will have a different look to it and you will able to personalize it to make it your own (within reason). The new look and feel is part of a design system that Microsoft calls the “Microsoft Fluent Design”. With this new update it will be easier to follow what you think is important. If you are really looking forward to Assassin’s Creed Origins and you want to follow that game, for example, then you will be able to add that title to your Home area and get updates about it. All you have to do is highlight Assassin’s Creed Origins in the store or wherever you find it and then hit the menu button on your controller and “Add to Home.” By doing this you will create a nice block of content about the games that you care about. If you happen to be a minimalist and you don’t want to utilize any of this then that is fine too and in that case you will just have the standard Home screen and your pins.

Another thing that Alpha Ring members are going to get to experience beginning today is a reorganized guide. It is now faster than ever to switch between tabs and now the tabs are horizontal instead of vertical, similar to how it was set up on the Xbox 360. With this update it should be easier to jump between apps and games and it will be quicker as well once you learn the new UI. In this new guide Achievements, sign-in, multiplayer (parties, Looking for Group and tournaments), people, home and recent messages, broadcasts and captures and a new action center will each have its own tab so it is easy to find whatever you are looking for in that moment.

The community tab will also be more customizable so that you can see what is important to you and skip the rest. There will be a new Activity Feed layout so you can find things easier and you can now expand something to full screen if you want to. Additionally you can pick what does and does not show up on your feed and they are also making improvements to Club discovery so you can easily join new clubs.

That is just a small taste of what is to come in the Fall update for Xbox One. Check out the video below with Major Nelson and tell us what you think. Are you excited to try out this new UI?