All Xbox One owners can now download the May Xbox One Update directly to their console, giving them access to improved Party Chat, Voice Messages and more.
Microsoft announced the May Xbox One Update was rolling out to everyone in a post on its Xbox Wire news blog earlier this morning. To be clear, this isn’t a new update for members of the Xbox One Preview Program. Instead, Microsoft is rolling out last month’s Xbox One Preview to all Xbox One owners worldwide.
The May Xbox One Update integrates power options directly into the setup experience for the Xbox One, previously the console didn’t make it clear how enabling silent updates and software upgrades could effect your power consumption. Microsoft is also adding servers on its end to handle Party Chat. Without diving into how networking for voice chat works too much, Xbox One owners who don’t have the correct network settings will get to connect to an Xbox Live server for Party Chat. This change is sorely needed as Party Chat remains one of the most unstable parts of the Xbox One ecosystem. Users can turn their console on or off if the have the Xbox SmartGlass app on their phone or tablet — something that requires Xbox One’s Instant On power mode be turned on for. Of all these features, being able to send friends Voice Messages like they could on the Xbox 360 is sure to get longtime users excited.
Consoles connected to Xbox Live with the Instant-On mode enabled should get the update silently over the next few days. Users can trigger updates manually from the Xbox One’s Settings app.