Xbox is bringing to welcome updates to its Series consoles

Xbox have announced that a new update for the Xbox Series consoles is on its way and and will deliver two very big and welcoming changes, searching refinements and power management.

Ok so, at a glance neither of the two sounds all that exciting, but there is a good reason for both to make it better for players, let us start with searching. Here is what Xbox have to say on the update:

Looking for your next favorite game, movie, and more? You can search for games, entertainment, and apps using the refreshed console search page. This includes a sleek new look, gallery-style results, visible filter categories navigable with RB/LB, the option to “search on YouTube” within the Movies & TV tab, and more. To open the search experience, tap the search button on the top of the dashboard, find the magnifying glass icon within the guide, or press Y on your controller anywhere within the console UI.

Ok, that doesn’t sound all that impressive, but lets face it the current search on Xbox is not the best, in fact I really avoid using it where possible, so its nice to see it getting some attention.

The second update is the one that will be more useful for players, especially those who pay the power bill. Here is what Xbox have said on the update.

If you select the Sleep power option, you can now adjust active hours to have the console ready to wake up when you’re likely to use it and shut down at the times you select to save energy. When your Xbox’s active hours are done for the day, the console will fully shut down and draw 0.5 watts as compared to 10-15 watts while active.

With the Xbox April Update, if you have the Sleep power option selected on your Xbox, you can configure your console active hours, which default to “always active” unless you change them. During your selected active hours your Xbox will boot quickly and be available for activities like Remote Play and mobile game installs.

Again, at face value that doesn’t sound all that exciting, but it is a big change. What this means is that if your console only gets used when you get home from work, you can now have it sit in a real idle state for the rest of the day. Its akin to the cars that turn their engines off when they come to a stop and then start up right away when you put your foot on the accelerator.

There is no set date for when everyone will have the updates available, but they are rolling out now, so just give it time and you should see it happen to yours soon.