We did it for the Switch. We did it for the PlayStation 5. It’s lone just that we bash it for the Xbox, too. Earlier this month, Sony announced it’d purge the barely-used Accolades diagnostic from PS5, which allowed you to bestow awards connected others successful multiplayer games. This spurred a thought exercise: What different features could get removed from fashionable gaming platforms without overmuch fanfare?

The Xbox’s UI is beauteous fine-tuned, having been honed implicit astir a decade. (The Xbox Series X/S uses the aforesaid UI arsenic the Xbox One; it’s cosmopolitan crossed console generations.) Still, there’s ever country to trim. Here are the features Microsoft could purge from the Xbox without causing overmuch of an uproar.

Pin to Home

You tin pin immoderate crippled to the Xbox’s permanently: Just hover implicit its icon, pat the hamburger button, and prime “add to home.” Maybe there’s a usage lawsuit I’m overlooking, but the logic down this has ever failed me. If you play a crippled often capable that you request it pinned permanently to your location screen, it’s astir apt already connected your location surface arsenic 1 of your most-played games. (The apical enactment of the Xbox UI shows your six astir precocious utilized apps. Also your crippled room is virtually close there.)

Game Clubs

Every azygous Xbox crippled has a alleged Game Club, accessed by viewing the game’s “game card” (in the paper that pops up aft tapping the hamburger button) and past tabbing implicit to the “official club” icon. Here, you tin spot info related to the peculiar game, from achievement-tracking lists to “news” stories (which you tin ever conscionable get from your favorite gaming quality site). In the Progress tab, you’ll besides find a to-the-minute number of however overmuch clip you’ve devoted to that game—good stuff! So it’s not that Game Hubs are entirely useless, per se. It’s much that they needlessly obfuscate accusation you really want, an facet that’s brought into stark clarity considering however readily it’s accessible connected competing platforms, similar the PlayStation and Switch.

Skype

We’re good successful the epoch of Zoom, but the omnipresent specter of a video chat app from similar 5 net eras agone hasn’t gone anywhere. Yes, Skype is very overmuch connected Xbox. My lone question present is…uh, why? It’s partially meant to treble arsenic a dependable chat alternative, I suppose, but beauteous overmuch each chatting enactment is better, including Microsoft’s own, oregon the precocious added Discord integration (great for crossplay).

Break Reminders

Sure, successful the console’s settings, nether the Preferences menu, you tin acceptable up automatic interruption reminders successful half-hour increments. (These notifications lone popular up erstwhile you’re playing a game, but the timepiece starts counting the 2nd you crook your Xbox on.) But c’mon, nary 1 wants their Xbox to enactment similar their parents. Also, escaped clip is much precious than ever these days. If you tin reasonably snag a fewer hours to play games consecutively, much powerfulness to you.

The Events tab

By default, the Xbox’s main surface includes a enactment point for Events, which gives you a speedy update astir whether oregon not immoderate live-service games are moving progressive events. Right now, my Events tab shows details astir events for Marvel’s Avengers, Ark: Survival Evolved, and Destiny 2—two of which I’ve ne'er played connected Xbox. (My Avengers relationship is connected PlayStation; I’ve ne'er touched Ark.) So, it’s intelligibly not ever relevant. But also, if you’re a regular subordinate of work games, you’re astir apt going to larn astir what’s happening either done authoritative societal channels, quality sources, oregon in-game.

Xbox Assist

Xbox Assist is simply a built-in encyclopedia of FAQs, tips, and different system-level guides. For instance, if you popular unfastened the Troubleshooters menu, you’ll spot a walkthrough that’ll archer you however to commencement a crippled you’re having occupation booting up, replete with an enactment to cheque the presumption of Xbox’s online services. But you can’t support these guides unfastened astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic the portion of the Xbox you’re having the contented with, meaning you person to either memorize the proposal oregon juggle betwixt 2 apps. Plus, we each cognize the 1 spot folks caput to for casual answers: Google. It’s acold easier to conscionable person each of this accusation on-hand from Xbox’s Support Page successful a web browser.