Xbox Confirms Changes Coming in February 2024 Console Update

14.02.2024 - 21:10 / gamerant.com / John DiCarlo

Xbox has begun rolling out its February update, which includes touch-control support for Xbox Remote Play, a new calibration tool for controllers, and more. Xbox's newest update applies to both Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles.

Xbox releases monthly updates for its consoles that usually implement performance and stability improvements while also addressing various bugs. However, these updates can sometimes include entirely new features, like Xbox's November update that introduced wish list notifications for Free Play Days, support for redeeming rewards using a phone, and Japanese-language keyboard layouts. Since the November update, Xbox's monthly patches have mostly focused on the usual performance and stability improvements, but its newest patch is much more exciting.

One of the most notable features in Xbox's February update is that Xbox Remote Play now supports touch controls for over a hundred games, such as Minecraft Dungeons,Psychonauts 2, Sea of Thieves, and many more. This will allow Remote Play users, who are streaming games from their console to a mobile device, to play these titles using their phone's touchscreen. This feature is supported on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. Xbox's February update also includes a new calibration tool for controllers. Available through the Xbox Accessories app, the new tool allows users to fix thumbsticks with inconsistent responses. Additionally, the update introduces a useful feature previously seen in Xbox's Insider Program, which is new filtering and sorting options for the My Games and Apps section. Now, users can sort their games by technical capabilities (including touch support), accessibility options, and supported languages. Also, subscriptions can now be sorted by «recently added.»

Xbox's February update also implemented additional support for players who use a console on a public network, such as when hospitals provide Xboxes to children. For these purposes, users can now restrict automatic sign-outs, Edge access, and setting a home console. In addition to these exciting features, Xbox fans have more updates to look forward to in the future.

The Xbox Insider Program recently introduced an impressive update that massively increased users' download speeds while running a game. One user reported that his background download speed went from 40 to 80 mb/s to 380 mb/s. However, this feature is currently only available to the Insider Program's Alpha Skip-Ahead tier, which usually receives features well in advance of the general public.

In other exciting news, Xbox recently confirmed that it would address the rampant rumors of some of its exclusive titles going cross-platform. This will be done during a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast