Microsoft details new Friends App for Xbox One
Major Nelson, Director of Programming for Xbox Live, has posted a video walkthrough of the new friends app for Xbox One. The main screen for the new friends app is a friend feed a la Facebook, where gamers can keep track of the various activities that their friends are involved in over time. This feed can be snapped alongside title content, so players can see what their friends are doing at any point in time without having to pause their game or navigate away from other content they may be browsing. Snapping the app also allows gamers to quickly and easily join their friends on multiplayer pursuits the moment their friends start playing a new title.
The new friends app also boasts the stunning new 1080p gamerpics that are associated with a player’s profile. The profile page highlights the gamerpic along with the number of friends a player has, the number of people following them, their Gamerscore and the newly announced reputation level. On top of this basic information, a player’s recent activity, achievements and uploaded videos are all easily accessible via their profile menu. Players can control who can view information about them using various privacy settings.
The most interesting new feature in the friends app is the fact that friends can now be classified using varying degrees of importance. A set of favorite friends are easily accessible from the main menu, so important people can be quickly and easily accessed if necessary. The new friends list will also feature followers similar to Twitter, which allows users to keep track of certain players on Xbox Live without those players having to reciprocate the relationship. As previously mentioned, users can block followers from seeing their feed and expanded profile through their privacy setting if they wish. The friends app for Xbox One will be available at launch on November 22.
Sources: Xbox Wire and Major Nelson