Microsoft is finally giving users the ability to increase their Xbox One hard drive storage beyond 500GB thanks to the upcoming June update. It update will also feature the use of real names, SmartGlass improvements, and more fan-favorite features.
Earlier today on Xbox Wire, Major Nelson revealed that the Xbox One “will soon support up to two external hard drives at once.” The drives must be USB 3.0 capable and of at least 256 GB or larger. With multiple Xbox One hard drives, you can move game files from one storage device to another, and even set an external drive as the main drive for automatically installing or saving games.
This bit of news is great for those looking to go digital-only with their gaming experience, but it isn’t the only move Microsoft is making in the correct direction. The June update will also feature the use of real names to help users sort through the max of 1000 friends. You can adjust this setting to where only your friends, a few friends, or no one at all can see your real name.
The real name feature will come in handy, especially when you use a SmartGlass capable device. The app will now sport a new look that features your friends’ activity feeds so you can see what they are up to even when you are not by your console. The SmartGlass app is also improving with the inclusion of the entire OneGuide experience and a Universal Remote Control. Now you can change the channel of your TV just by a swipe of your fingers on your phone or other mobile devices.
For those of you who wanted to organize your Xbox One pins, SmartGlass’ update will allow you to rearrange your pins alphabetically, by color, and basically any way you like. And those who want to automatically sign into the Xbox One, the June update will also include that.
The upcoming update will also include the previously mentioned improvements that add Games for Gold on the Xbox One and access to all apps even without the Xbox Live Gold requirement.
Will these updates change your mind about going all digital? More importantly, will you let your clunky remotes collect dust? Let us know in the comments below.
HT: Xbox Wire
Wonder if it will see partions. Say I have a 4 TB external drive can I partion off one TB and only format that 1TB or is it all or nothing?
Would it be so hard for them to give us a MEDIA PLAYER so we can play our stored content like it was on the XBox 360? It was so much easier to be able to connect to a meda server vs having to have a “Device” push the media to the Xbox One (unless I have missed an update and this has been taken care of already)…
These are some great improvements but still wish we could upgrade the internal hard drive. I will probably buy digital copies for games that I will only get a standard edition of and get physical copies for special editions. Would be cool if special editions came in two flavors one with a physical disc and one with a digital code.
I also noticed there were some issues that I haven’t seen Microsoft address yet but hopefully it will be a part of this patch such as the issue with games going back to home screen when starting the game, controller disconnects, and having to unplug the console in order for it to see the controller again.