October update for Xbox Series X|S consoles brings home screen search bar

Gamers, this one is for you all. In case you didn’t know, Microsoft has announced the rollout of the Xbox October update for Series X|S consoles.

Why should you be interested in this update? Well, it brings a slew of changes including a Search bar at the top of your home screen to make it quicker to find games, apps, and media content.

Keep in mind that this update also lets you change your TV volume from your console, mute startup sounds, and more.

Before we start, you might to know how to fix High Packet Loss on your Xbox Series X|S console, just in case. Also, be sure to check out what is happening with the console gaming market.

What to look for in the latest Xbox Series X|S update?

With this new Xbox Series X|S update, the Redmond-based tech giant has added the ability to control your TV’s volume right from your Xbox.

Now, it’s able to do this with an HDMI feature called Consumer Electronics Control (CEC). To change the volume, open up the audio and music section of the Xbox guide.

The company also wanted to mention that this eliminates the need to continually pick up your TV remote to change the volume.

And, since we were talking about audio settings, this update lets you mute startup sounds if you want. To do so, head to Profile & system and access the Volume & audio output settings.

Moving on, you should know that another interesting feature in this update is the ability to set an Xbox as your home Xbox.

What this means is that you can give friends and family access to your games and content when you’re not signed in and allows for games to be played offline.

Needless to say, this is an ideal option if your Xbox is in a central place in your home such as the living room and other people expect to play on the console.

You can now configure your Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One console to use different power modes, depending on your preference.

Starting this month, you’ll notice that Microsoft has updated the information to help you choose the settings that will work best for you and renamed the options.

So, Standby is updated to Sleep, and Energy saver is updated to Shutdown (energy saving). To see the power settings for your Xbox, use the regular process.

Besides these updates, Microsoft has rolled in an Xbox controller firmware update that includes a bug fix for USB flight sticks that connect to the Xbox Adaptive Controller.

We are also looking at other bug fixes included for the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controllers, Xbox Adaptive Controllers, and Xbox One Wireless Controllers with Bluetooth support.

Before we conclude, allow us to also speak of your Xbox passkey and guest keys, which are an added layer of security that is tied to your Xbox profile.

While Microsoft is updating the names from Xbox passkey and Xbox guest key to Xbox PIN and Xbox guest PIN, nothing else changes except the name.

Yes, you can use your PIN with any Xbox console that you sign in to and limit access to things like purchases and parental controls.

What other improvements would this last-generation console benefit from? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.