As part of the continuous updates the Xbox One has received over the last year, the long awaited feature, voice messaging, is finally making it’s way to Xbox One in Part 2 of the April Update. Part 1 of the April update seen Game Hub links and more detailed achievements notifications make their way to to Xbox One and starting tonight a new set of features will be rolling out to Preview Members.
Check out the list below for features in the April preview update that are starting to roll out tonight:
– Voice messages – Xbox One preview program members will be able to compose and playback voice messages in the messages app when snapped on Xbox One. Quickly and easily record audio to send to your friends or others through your snapped messages app accessed through a simple quick double tap of the Xbox button. Additionally, voice messages can be exchanged between Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles.
– Dedicated servers for party chat – We’re enhancing party chat with dedicated chat relay servers that will enable Xbox One owners that may have historically had NAT issues to party chat more reliably. Parties where players are unable to form direct peer-to-peer connections for party chat will automatically leverage dedicated server infrastructure to relay traffic. This service is only enabled for parties where one or more members are previewing the April system update.
– What’s On – The Xbox engineering team is continuing to experiment with the What’s On area, which highlights popular videos, movies, TV shows and game broadcasts. We’re continuing to test different experiences for preview members in the U.S. and this month, the preview of this feature is being expanded to Canada and the UK as well.
This is a highly anticipated list of features that I am sure will make countless Xbox One gamers happy. The party chat features will most likely improve the chat experience tremendously as well. Are you guys happy with this update? Any other features you are waiting on? Sound off below!
^Aaron (@PxDIZZLE)
Source: Major Nelson
Aaron Perreault (PxDIZZLE) contributed 8 articles to ICXM in 2015, covering Windows and PC, and Xbox news with a focus on hands-on impressions and verified-source reporting. Their bylines on the site span the Xbox One’s first full year of post-launch coverage, including the early days of Backwards Compatibility and Windows 10 gaming. They post on X as @PxDIZZLE.