Microsoft announces the New Xbox Experience, coming this fall to Xbox Series X and Xbox One, teases new Xbox Dashboard

By Zachary Boddy
published

The same great experience wherever you play.

Xbox UI Image
Xbox UI Image (Image credit: Xbox)

What you need to know

  • Ahead of the Xbox Series X launch later this year, Microsoft has announced some changes coming to the Xbox platform.
  • The New Xbox Experience will standardize the UI design of all the Xbox platforms, from Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Game Pass, and Xbox on PC.
  • The new UI is focused on design consistency, speed, and overall visibility, and has already been seen in the new Xbox Store.
  • The New Xbox Experience will roll out to the whole Xbox family of devices and apps this fall, alongside the Xbox Series X.

The software experience on an Xbox console has grown in leaps and bounds since its inception in 2013, but in its current iteration looks stale in comparison to the Xbox app on Windows PC's, or the mobile Xbox Game Pass app on Android and iOS devices. In order to rectify this, Xbox has been hard at work on a substantial overhaul, which started with the gradual rollout of a new Microsoft Store on Xbox, which drastically improved the Store's speed, design, and overall usability.

Now, this same design language that can be seen elsewhere in the Xbox family will be coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles this fall with the New Xbox Experience, which should clean up the UI and UX of the Xbox consoles, and make everything run much more smoothly. According to Microsoft, with the New Xbox Experience, the home screen will load up to 50% faster, and consume 40% less memory, which are considerable upgrades in performance.

https://twitter.com/JezCorden/status/1296092935621140480?s=20

Not only that, it seems the Xbox Dashboard will also benefit from these design language updates, with rounded corners, animated backgrounds, and more consistent spacing. Improvements in this area are always welcomed.

These changes won't just be limited to Xbox consoles, however, as it seems the Android Xbox app will also be getting rebuilt with a new UI, as we reported on earlier this year, which is fantastic to see. Once all of this rolls out, the entire Xbox ecosystem should look better, run faster, and be consistently smooth no matter where you are, be it your console, your phone, or your PC.

Are you excited about this updated experience? What do you think about the changes? Let us know in the comments below!

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Zachary Boddy
Zachary Boddy
Staff Writer

Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter @BoddyZachary.