Xbox Announces New Home Screen and UI Changes

Xbox has announced it is giving users a new home screen and making various changes to the UI. The home screen of a console is one of the most important features. It sets the tone for the feeling and aesthetic the console is going to offer, it is key to quickly and efficiently deliver information and making things like games, movies, and other apps easily accessible. Xbox has had a number of iconic home screens dating back to the original Xbox, but things really made an impact with the Blades dashboard on Xbox 360 and all of the subsequent evolutions that followed. All of the Xbox consoles have launched with new, premium, flashy home screens with the exception of the Xbox Series X, it's virtually identical to the Xbox One's current home screen.

Xbox is looking to shake things up, however. As noted in a new blog post, starting as soon as this week, Xbox is rolling out new UI changes to select Xbox Insiders which will include things like a row of most recently played games and apps, curated and recommended categories based on your habits, and more specific visual identifiers to keep the home screen feeling familiar. Microsoft will utilize feedback from these Insiders over the next few months to help create a new Xbox home screen sometime in 2023. Although Xbox has released an image of what will be rolling out soon, it's unclear if the final product in 2023 will look like that or have any drastic changes.

Either way, for those who are a bit tired of the current Xbox home screen, this is great news. It was a bit of a bummer that the Xbox Series X|S didn't come with a new home screen, but this will hopefully offer that refresh fans were hoping for when the consoles launched in 2020. It seems like this home screen will also come to Xbox One users as well, but it wasn't specified.

What do you want to see from the new Xbox home screen? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.