Xbox today released a brand-new Xbox Wire post delving into the changes and improvements they’ve made to the console’s overall UI home screen. Noted in the blog post Alpha Skip-Ahead and Alpha rings will be allowed to preview the new changes to the Xbox’s Home experience. Xbox users have been clamoring for a less cluttered Home screen for quite some time as many have cited that they’d like to be able to fully appreciate their dynamic backgrounds. The latest changes to the Xbox Home UI seem to take this into account as overall the Home screen icons are now much smaller and more clean.
The Xbox Wire post noted that taking into account user feedback they “designed hundreds of options, then refined with prototypes and finally user-tested in our Research labs until we found one we hope you’ll love.” They were also quick to stress that the new UI “balances the experience, accessibility, function, and the needs of our community.”
This new layout is set to offer players quick access to their library, the Microsoft Store, Xbox Game Pass, search, and settings with a brand-new quick access menu at the top of the Home screen. In order to accommodate viewing your background game sizes have now been shrunk and placed at the bottom of the screen. Alongside this, and probably the coolest addition, the new UI will now display the art of certain games when you hover over them on the menu which sounds similar to how Sony and PlayStation have been approaching first-party titles on their Home screen.
The ‘My games & apps’ tab in the side menu will now also display any notifications that require your attention. While the final design is not yet final the Xbox Wire post also noted that players may also see updates in their library or the Microsoft Store. For example, you may see a notification in the Microsoft Store tab if a game you have wishlisted is on sale.
The full release of the new Home UI hasn’t been announced yet but I’m sure the players that have been asking for this change are over the moon with the announcement. The announcement of the UI changes over on Xbox’s Twitter garnered praise from players all around. However, some commentators are asking Xbox to remove any form of advertising from the Home screen in general. With feedback still being taken we may see a further change to the UI before its official release.
