19+ Hidden Features Xbox Tips You Need To Learn Now.

xbox series x

or s which is pretty exciting stuff

isn't it well look prepare to get even

more excited

because this video is all about hidden

features you might not even realize

are available on the console so strap in

and prepare to make the absolute best

of your brand new xbox

so by now you probably know about the

less hidden features of

xbox series x and s like 120 fps

and ray tracing and if any of this is

news to you check out last week's video

on the features that will change your

gaming life

but anyway if you've got your hands on

your console and you aren't sure what

games support these features

there are a couple of easy ways to check

first off you can head to the store on

your console

access any list of games and tap x to

bring up the filter sidebar

under capabilities you'll see a whole

host of features listed

including 4k 120 fps and ray tracing

as well as optimized for xbox series x

and s so you can easily see

which games have been given next gen

treatment over in your library meanwhile

you'll see these game

icons marked with a nice big x and s

logo and you can find an optimized

filter under console type

this works for the game pass section 2

in case you want to see which of the

games you get with your subscription

will really put your new machine to the

test

let's head back to the dashboard now

where there are a few new options for

customization

tap the view button with the two

interesting squares and you can now

decide what appears on your home screen

you can change the order of the content

blocks to put your most important stuff

at the top remove any you're not using

and add

new ones it's perfect if you want speedy

access to specific games

groups or even a person so if there's

one game in school and rival you're keen

to keep an eye on

this feature is definitely for you

visually speaking though the coolest new

customization option is probably the

dynamic background which features a

swooshy animation in a color matching

the theme on your profile

so if you switch between accounts it'll

change color too

this is the first time we've had an

animated custom background on an xbox

console and

harrison hoffman from the xbox

engineering team teased that

more could be in the works or if you

fancy something a bit more personalized

you can set

any screenshot you've saved on your xbox

an achievement you're especially proud

of or just any custom image you've

dropped into your account's onedrive

folder on a pc or mobile device

you can access all these options by

hitting view on the dashboard so go on

get customizing let's talk about light

and dark

themes for some people it's black and

white literally as to which one they

prefer

but if you're not fast and want your

console ui to pick whichever is more

appropriate for your current situation

well now there's a setting for that in

the same customization menu just head to

the theme and motion

and you'll notice there's an option for

a scheduled theme so you can have a

light theme in the daytime

and go dark in the evenings you can use

set times or even sync it to your local

sunrise and sunset

so it will change automatically okay

now it's time to hit the xbox button on

your controller and bring up the newly

redesigned guide overlay

it's looking more streamlined than ever

reducing the number of tabs you need to

browse through to a sleek

six as well as the guide quick menu

itself you've got and we're going left

right here people and parties and chats

covering all your social needs

game activities so you can check in on

your achievements progress

capture and share for those screenshots

and clips and finally profile and system

to dig into the settings

but if that order doesn't do it for you

you can simply switch it up

you should know how to customize by now

yep hit the view button on your

dashboard and you can rearrange these

sections to your heart's content

and a little bonus tip wherever you drop

the guide tab

that's where you'll open to so if you

prefer to navigate right to left or

stick it in the middle with options

either side

go for it you might have also noticed

these new quick

access icons at the bottom of the guide

overlay those can let you access your

latest notifications

xbox game pass the store search and

change the volume

all without having to navigate through

any menus in fact you don't even have to

scroll down because you can jump

straight to it by pulling the right

trigger

very very easy next up the controller

whether you're using the new xbox

wireless controller

an elite or an xbox one pad you can

completely customize how it works

just head to the devices settings menu

and you'll find the accessories screen

where you can remap any button and

invert or even swap

the thumbsticks if that's what works for

you you can even set up

multiple profiles and give them custom

names so if you like one layout for

shooters

and a completely different one for

racing or platforming or dribbling a

ball across a virtual field

it's nice and easy to switch between

them but

there is another control option entirely

and it's pretty awesome

so for this you're gonna need the xbox

app installed on your phone

then head to remote features in the

console's device and connections menu

to link the two together once that's all

set up over on your phone you just need

to tap on the console icon

up in the top right of the screen and

then you can use the app as a remote

control to swipe your way around menus

watch videos

anything that doesn't necessarily

require the full controller experience

this is just the tip of the xbox app and

you might have noticed a couple of other

interesting options in there

but before we dig into those a quick psa

if you happen to be using the app as a

remote because you've lost your actual

controller down the side of the sofa or

you're playing with pals and don't know

which pad is which anymore just head to

the accessories menu

hit the three dots here and you can make

your controller buzz until you've

tracked it down

phew okay so back to the app another

very cool thing you can do here is

manage your downloads

hit that icon in the top right again and

you'll be able to see all the games

currently installed

on your console you can check their size

and uninstall any if necessary

but the particularly exciting bit here

is that you can download new

games as you browse games inside the app

you can set them to install

on your console so when you get back to

it they'll be right there waiting for

you

this even works for some games you don't

even own yet

you can pre-install them and then make

the purchase on the console

when you're ready all right now we've

got to the biggie though

you might have noticed at the top of the

menu in the app a few

magic words remote play on this device

that is right you can play games on your

xbox

right there on your phone and it is

ridiculous

it's just a case of syncing up an xbox

controller over bluetooth

and you can stream whatever your xbox is

currently up to so you never need to be

separated from your favorite game again

and this still isn't the end of the tech

you can connect your xbox to

if you've got a smart speaker like

amazon echo or google home

or literally any device that uses alexa

google assistant or cortana you can link

up the two so you'll be able to turn

your console

on and off launch games change the

volume and take captures

all with the power of your voice right

time to get back to the console itself

now when you're choosing the gamer pick

for your profile and that's the face

that you'll be showing to the world on

xbox live

there are a ton of great ready-made

avatars available

but if you fancy something a bit more

personalized then

note the upload a custom image option

hit it and you'll be taken to onedrive

where you can use

literally any picture as long as it's

1080 by 1080 pixels and meets the

community standards

so just behave yourself all right if

you're a chivo hound you might already

know about this one but if you don't

it's absolutely essential if you're

looking to max out the old gamer points

when you're playing a game hit the xbox

button head to the guide menu's game

activity tab and

under achievements you'll see the option

to turn achievement tracker on this

is a customizable little overlay that

shows your progress towards the next

chivo so you can always keep your eye on

the prize

and speaking of prizes one of the best

things you can be taking advantage of

with your xbox series s

or x is xbox game plus and it's a

massive all-you-can-eat library of games

so if you haven't got a subscription yet

it's a great way to make the most of

your new console

especially if you're taking advantage of

game pass quests which let you earn

rewards

just by doing what you'll be doing

anyway playing all these lovely games

there are daily weekly and monthly

challenges that vary from simply firing

up a game pass title

or earning an achievement in anyone to

game specific quests

it's a really great way of navigating

the huge game pass library and actually

like getting some stuff

while you do it if you're upgrading to

an xbox series x

or s from an xbox one one of the things

you'll notice is all of your progress

comes with you

that's thanks to cloud saves which backs

up all your game saves on a server

linked to your profile so whatever

console you're playing on you won't lose

a moment of progress

and while you will need to be signed

into xbox live for this to work

for obvious reasons this feature doesn't

depend on you being a gold subscriber

it's available to all xbox owners at no

extra cost to you

one of the great little things about the

xbox series x and s

is the improved networking hardware

making sure your console is making the

most of your internet connection to

download and play

games if you want to keep an eye on that

you can head to bandwidth usage in the

network settings menu to see your

current connection speed

how much data your console has

downloaded in the past month and even

hourly breakdowns for the past day

lovely lovely stats

if you're a parent who's sharing their

new console with a younger gamer well a

good on you and b you should probably

know all about the parental controls

available to you

on xbox series x and s you can control

which games movies tv

music and apps your kids are able to

access and even filter sites which they

can visit with the built-in web browser

you'll find that all under the family

settings section of the account

menu okay so we've already talked about

streaming xbox games onto your pc

well what if you want to go the other

way and play on your console with a

mouse and keyboard

well you totally can just plug them into

the usb ports on your xbox series x or s

and you should be good to go the only

thing to keep in mind is the games that

support this control scheme it is a list

that keeps getting bigger

all the time but if you want a good

starting point you can check out our

list of 10 keyboard and mouse games on

xbox one at the top of the video

so guys that should get you off to a

pretty good start with the new console

but if you've uncovered any cool

features in the settings yourself

let us know down in the comments below

otherwise

hit that like button make sure to

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and s needs we've got games hardware the

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