Do we really need Xbox's Friends & Community update channel?

Not everyone is thrilled.

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Key notes

  • Xbox just launched the Friends & Community updates channel.
  • The update is coming for Xbox insiders on the Alpha ring.
  • However, not everyone seems to be happy about it.

Microsoft continues to develop and expand its products, and this time, the Redmond tech giant said that its gaming console Xbox is getting a new Friends and Community Updates channel in the app.

As Ivy Krislov, Xbox Experiences’ senior product manager lead, explains in a blog post, the app sits comfortably on the Home Page. You can see all your friends’ achievements and recent activity while sharing your recent status at the same time. It’s now out for insiders in Alpha Skip-Ahead and Alpha rings.

The Friends & Community Updates channel will bring together all the top things from your activity feed. You will be able to see achievements, game clips, screenshots and text posts from your friends, official clubs, or games that you follow. To see everything in your activity feed, click into the “Friends & Community Updates”. You may also see “Got something to share?” to share your gaming moments or “Clubs on Xbox” to discover more on Official Clubs.

With that said, however, being an insider-only feature means that the app is still far from hitting its primetime. Microsoft is still experimenting with this, so it’s safe to say that you’ll bump into a few hiccups along the way.

Xbox’s Friends & Community: What are people saying?

As a matter of fact, not everyone is thrilled about the Friends & Community updates channel on Xbox. 

Gamers on forums say that they want more customization and UI revamping options, so this update definitely lets them down in many ways. According to them, this new update seems to clutter more stuff that isn’t really practical. 

Has there been an international shortage of UI designers for the last like 6 years? Or has some Cult obsessed with bad UX taken over? Android, Xbox, Windows, Google, so many games, all with worsening UI and worsening logo type designs.

I can’t seem to reconfigure where this section is placed on the dashboard. Currently, the first section I get is showcasing the top free to play games on gamepass, which I don’t care about in the slightest.

What do you think about this update? Do you think Microsoft is doing the right thing? Let us know in the comments!

More about the topics: xbox