UPDATE: New Xbox Features Now Available in Preview

The Xbox experience across devices is becoming more robust this week as we begin to roll out a host of new features. You’ll notice some old favorites—like avatars—making a comeback, and brand new features—like testing streaming—setting the stage for bigger things to come. Let’s jump in!

Xbox on Windows 10

Here’s a closer look at the great new features coming to Xbox on Windows 10 with this month’s Xbox app preview:

Avatars – You can now download and launch the Avatars app from within the Xbox app. After the app is installed, select Customize > Customize your avatar to launch the Avatars app and edit, dress up, and buy new items for your avatar.

Friends updates – We’re making it easier to add friends, designate them as favorites and share your name from the Xbox app. The friends list will also show you which of your friends are in a party, playing multiplayer games, or broadcasting. You can also report or block people from the Xbox app.

Game hubs – Similar to Xbox One, you can now view the game hub for an Xbox One game and view the activity feed curated by the game’s community manager. Click on any game tile, under Home > Recently played or elsewhere in the Xbox app, and you will be taken to the game hub.

Game DVR – You can now alter the keyboard shortcuts used for opening the Game Bar, starting and stopping recording, taking screenshots, and more. Also, you can now view and manage your cloud-based game clips from the Xbox app by selecting Game DVR > Shared.

Testing streaming – The Xbox team needs your help in providing information about your PC’s performance and connectivity characteristics as we prepare to enable game streaming from Xbox One to Windows 10 PCs. To do this, connect your Xbox One to your Windows 10 PC using the Xbox app: from the Connect menu, select your Xbox One console then choose Connect. Once connected, click on Test streaming to anonymously send the team diagnostic information about your PC and network settings.

Turn On/Off your Xbox One Console – The Connect menu in Xbox app has been updated to let you power your Xbox One on and off from your Windows 10 devices when they are on the same home network as your console.

The Xbox app will sign in using your primary Microsoft Account and associated gamertag that you use to sign into Windows 10. If you want to sign in with a different gamertag, you will need to set up a second Microsoft account on your Windows 10 PC. The ability to sign into the Xbox app with a different Microsoft Account/Xbox Profile will be re-enabled in a future update.

Xbox One updates

The Xbox team is gearing up for E3 in June and we’ve got some exciting things to share with you there, but first, this month we’re continuing to preview a few things while we gather feedback and work toward making them available to everyone.

Xbox One Digital TV Tuner in 11 new European countries – The team will continue to test the Xbox One Digital TV with our preview audience in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland, with plans to make it available to all customers in these countries later this summer. Earlier this week, we announced the retail availability of an over-the-air TV tuner for the U.S. & Canada as well.

Wireless Display app – We appreciate all the great feedback you’ve sent us and the team continues to make improvements to the Miracast functionality in the Wireless Display app based on that feedback. Keep it coming!