Xbox One August Update Now Available

Major Nelson recently made it known that the August update for the Xbox One has gone live. This means that if you haven't already updated your Xbox One, you should do so right now if auto-updates aren't turned on. The new patch brings several highly requested features along with plenty of upgrades for existing features.

Over on the Major Nelson blog it's made known that the Xbox One has received some notable feature updates, including some new social features and dashboard modifications that should make the navigation and utilization process a lot easier and more user-friendly.

One of the most requested features has been the low-battery indicator and it's now made apparent and obvious on the Xbox One's dashboard. If you've been playing for quite some time and you need to know exactly what the status is of your controller batteries, you can now see it without having to press any buttons or head to any options menus.

Mobile purchases have also been included, so gamers can use their phones or handsets to access the Smartglass app and buy a game while you're out on the go. This is a feature that's been made very popular on the PlayStation 4, which allows users to make purchases while they're not on the device and have the items load up remotely. If the Xbox One is set to “Instant On” and the proper online features are enabled, you'll be able to remotely make a purchase from your mobile device and have it show up in your library on your Xbox One when you get home. You can see a detailed walkthrough of this feature in the August update video below.

An activity feed feature has also been implemented, enabling users to see what their friends have been up to and how long ago they've been online. It's like a cleaner version of Twitter, allowing users to see what games or activities their friends have been participating in, as well as enable quick navigation for social interaction such as sharing or commenting on the feed.

Another highly requested feature was being able to disable notifications during videos. This is now something that can be toggled on or off from within the settings menu of the Xbox One. Now when you play videos or watch movies or TV shows, you'll no longer have to worry about any kind of notification interrupting your entertainment media experience.

Additionally, 3D Blu-ray movie support has also been added, so gamers and movie enthusiasts alike are able to watch their favorite Blu-ray films in 3D, assuming you have the proper equipment, glasses and a television screen that allows for such a feature.

You can get your hands on the August update right now. If you already have your Xbox One set to auto-update while in standby mode, the new features should be waiting for you the next time your power-on your console. If auto-update isn't on or you do a cold shutdown of your console, you may have to go through a few steps to update your Xbox One to the latest OS version.