Xbox One gets UI redesign, makes many pages customisable

By Sherif Saed

Microsoft has rolled out a new Xbox One update to select Insiders.

The update, available to Alpha Insiders, brings a new UI to the console with a focus on user customisability. The Home, Guide, and Community pages have all been touched up, with Game Hubs, Profiles, and Avatars getting updated this fall.

This is part of Microsoft’s new Fluent Design initiative, which also affects Windows 10. Now, the Home page can be customised to show favourite games, friends and more. The new design consolidates Home, Social, and My Games and Apps into one dashboard to eliminate loading screens when switching between them.

The Guide has also seen an update. Outside of the speed improvements, the various links are now displayed horizontally at the top. Content blocks is the biggest new feature, allowing users to pin everything from favourite friends to games into a big, well, block seen as you scroll down.

This video showcases the new additions pretty well:

The new UI also extends to the Game Bar on Windows 10. It’s now possible to enable or disable the feature on a per-game basis. Mixer integration will now allow users to choose between transmitting game audio and system-wide audio when streaming.

Microsoft did not say when this update will be available to the general public, but seeing as it’s just hit Alpha, it’ll take a while. We do know it’s due for release “later this year.” More and more Insiders will be able to jump in later, though, as these tests usually go.