Sony's outlined some of the key new features that will be made available as part of PlayStation 4 firmware update v3.50. The system software overhaul – codenamed Musashi – will bring with it a slew of improvements and additions, including online friend notifications and the ability to appear offline so that you're not disturbed while playing.
You'll also be able to schedule your own events with friends, so that the console will automatically add you to a party when your, er, play session starts. And a new option will enable you to more easily jump into a friend's game when you're in a party. Sadly, there's no word on folders or PlayStation Network name changes right now.
Other improvements include the roll out of Remote Play on the PC and Mac, as well as the option to livestream to Daily Motion. If you signed up for the beta and are successful, you'll be able to test the new firmware update from tomorrow. In the meantime, let us know whether you're satisfied with this selection of improvements in the comments section below.
[source blog.us.playstation.com]
Comments 61
Fantastic some long overdue features that I'm happy to finally have! It clearly shows they're listening to what we want....folders soon enough I'm sure!
Cool, we're finally getting the "Friend Notification" feature. I like that "Appear Offline" feature as well.
Btw, I tried clicking on "Updated Score/Reviews for updated Games? Updated Score/Reviews For Updated Games?" but that link was broken.
@WanderingBullet It's because the thread got moved. Not sure why it's not redirecting.
All added features are great, but nearly 3 years in and I really need support of an external hard drive and some folders for my apps and games, along with deleting things like betas from my library. To freshen things up and get it how I want
well guys here comes the ability to play PS4 on PC,remote play! But eh, I'll probably try it once but after that I'll stick to my sony bravia tv.
@get2sammyb when is the update available, do you know dude?
I can't say I am 'disappointed' with these but I do think these - including folders and PSN name changes - are not as important or as necessary as external HDD support!!
Not only folders but PS4 really needs options to arrange the home menu. On the Xbox One everything is perfectly organised now -its current UI is the best of this generation- but on PS4 it's like browsing a "modern style" website, tiring and confusing.
I've come to the conclusion that actually I'm not bothered about folders.
I'd much rather the ability to be able to get rid of the useless icons I don't use like Spotify etc. Sony seem to like forcing these on us like this, it was the same on my PS3 with a poxy Singstar icon I couldn't get rid of... Grrr...
"the ability to appear offline so that you're not disturbed while playing." that's nice though...
External hdd support next please. Sound improvements though.
"You'll also be able to schedule your own events with friends, so that the console will automatically add you to a party when your, er, play session starts."
Rocket League Tuesday 9pm. Boom.
PS4 can't handle the folders, that's next gen, wait for PS5 for silky smooth filing.
@Dodoo completely agree, if I want Spotify or the web browser I will look for it, they need to stop making it jump to the front of the queue, the amount of times I have accidentally opened it
external HDD support would be nice, not too fussed about folders or PSN name changes though
Good, what would be even better if we could get a some kind of library management tool / option to remove all the betas and whatnot out from there, its starting to look really messy if you play a lot of stuff. I suspect the 'Folders' is pretty hard to do at this point, they don't want to redesign the whole interface around them.
How about custom wallpaper!!!?? Their themes suck butt.
@get2sammyb No worries, I'll have a look once it does redirect.
@marmiteforever Exactly! I'm in full agreement with you though I'm happy to not have marmite that often!
@Dodoo haha it's scrummy and also annoys the people on my friend list which is an added bonus
@marmiteforever lol, I'm more of a peanut butter person!
@Dodoo haha "peanut butter jelly time"
As people said before - have the possibility to arrange home menu. I don't care about folders but I want certain icons to disappear (playroom crap etc.) or just be able to hide them.
Cool!.. Still waiting for those folders though.
@hoffa007 Beta tomorrow, roll out soon after I think.
@WebHead Yea my Bravia is just sooooooooo nice, a great TV by any standard.
@BAMozzy 100% agreed, that is the only feature I care for.
The absence of folders remains baffling but I was also very much hoping for the half-baked Communities to get some more features to make them more useful.
Still no external hard disk support for a console with mandatory installation. Nice!
Gotta have those folders, eh?
I csnt understand how one previous poster thinks the xbox interface is better than the ps4's. I have both and find the ps4 one is far easier to navigate. The xbox interface is a total mess in my opinion. I am happy with the ps4's. All it needs is a customised background instead of those themes.
Yeah, the PS4 interface is very fast and fluid. It's very much a 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' scenario. It just needs a few more organisation options and it would be perfect.
Sigh, still no offline trophy support.
Honestly folders just seem absolutely useless for me personally. I really don't even see the point. What I really want is external HD support. I have a 2tb SSD in my ps4 now, but would still like an external because I will inevitably fill the 2tb up.
@WanderingBullet It's under the Help, Site suggestions section now. You can go there and view it there.
@DragonSlayer1759 The Xbox one UI is extremely slow as well. Have you tried playing a game and then trying to send a message or read a message? It takes ages for it to come up.
@Dodoo Yea never quite understood the uproar for folders, just why? External HD support on the other hand....
Anyone looking for a cool theme for their ps4 background, check out the Transistor one. Awesome sound fx, icons, and of course the background itself. It's the best one I have found this far and I have used it for months now.
@BodyW-outOrgans The Bloodborne one is awsome just like the GOW one.
I just got a new computer in my bedroom so pretty interested in Remote Play on PC.
I have a load of cracking screenshots awaiting the day when we can use custom themes.
Sounds cool. I hope 'Custom Folders' is in this update to? I REALLY want it And I just hope that when the PS5 comes out it will have all these features from DAY 1 to because I am getting fed-up of waiting for(some of the) basic features each Gen now + Appear Off-line? F-YEAH! I can be (UN)Socialble now...
@Tasuki Thanks.
The fact that you can choose which friends to receive notifications on is easily the one I'm most excited about
@MadAussieBloke
Meh, library is just every game on the system lumped together.
I like how I have it on Vita, 3DS and Wii U. A folder for indies, folder for 1st party digital, folder for PSP, folder for PSone, folder for NES, SNES, N64, GB, GBC, GBA, DS, Wii.
Civilized law and order at its finest. Right now the PS4 is the wild wild west
@MadAussieBloke THANKYOOOOOUUUUU!!!!!!!!!! XD
I knew the notifications were comming! ! ! =), now the only other real concern left is nsme change and external hard drive support! =) Great job sony!!! Take your time!
Looking forward to the stream to pc option as we only have one telly and the missus has a mean right hook. Playing on the Vita isn't always easy where you need a L3/R3 button.
Love the additions, now just external hd support! 4.0 maybe?
@get2sammyb I'm with you on the organization options.
I'm happy to hear about some better tools for friends/sessions. How nice to be able to login and accept the session invite and join the party/game all at the same time (unless I'm miss reading this feature).
Love it when new features people want finally come around and then they complain about not having something else.
All sounds good to me. Would still like external HDD support though. Also, I actually would like folders; but not urgently
Those are the two features I wanted most so I am happy. If I wanted to change my psn name would create a new account quite simple really. No need for external hd support the 2tb is more than enough.
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi lol seriously, the library's is a bit of a mess.
@get2sammyb thanks dude.
Good to see you do a video @get2sammyb! And yes, the Dailymotion aspect is severely odd indeed.
I know this might make me sound like an unsociable b*stard but can the friend notifications be turned off?
@iDangerMouse_ Thanks! Just experimenting at the moment, but having fun.
@BAMozzy
Agreed. But I'm not surprised that this basic feature hasn't been added and probably won't be. Not enough people are talking about it. The solution will probably just be buying more games on Xbox One over time, eventhough I prefer to use the PS4.
@Gamer83 @BAMozzy i want external hdd support,i see loads of comments all over the net asking the same thing.
@special_donky
I've seen a few on this website, that's about it. It really bothers me that the writers here pretend this is an issue. Though I don't agree a lot of times with the PushSquare staff, I also let most stuff go. A review score I disagree with? Different strokes for different folks. The heavy bias that I see some clowns on here complain about? It's a brand-specific website so it comes with the territory, don't like it? Leave. But one thing I think is pretty irresponsible is to act like a basic feature that even the freaking Wii U has isn't a big deal.
really looing forward to the remote play thing...I have an xperia z3,pstv and also bought twisteds remote play app...which is great!
however it streams in relatively low res...to stream like xbox and steam does would be fantastic..as both them stream to my work laptop great...
be nice to stream my ps4 in full res here too..
plus being able to add the app to steam so I can play it via the steam link on my big tv would be brill too!
@Gamer83 I tend to agree with you. Although You do get a few people mention it in comments you really don't see it mentioned by website articles. Most often it's stuff that really isn't that important that get mentioned - like changing your name. You picked it, and no doubt would cost £8 or so to change it but doesn't affect many people.
Everyone is likely to be affected by the small storage compared to game size - 10-12 AAA games and that's it - I bet IGC gives away a fair chunk of that 500GB of games a year.
Folders aren't that important either, you have a library for digital downloads or play from the 'disc' icon as I bet most people do. Friend notification, ability to appear offline etc I must admit are nice to have features but not as important as addressing the big issue of storage that has been around since before launch.
I do find it is impacting on my decision to buy games for my PS as I will have to delete games to install new games and go through this every time I get a new game.
@unionjack3rd be interesting to see how the remote play runs on a pc. I also have a z3 compact tablet which I love, but as soon as you add the ds4 to it via Bluetooth it becomes a laggy mess. Something to do with the router I believe 2.4 vs 5ghz
@Gamer83 So,your annoyed PushSquare apparently treat it as an issue,but are annoyed 'cos its not treated as a big deal? Not being facetious,just found your comment a little confusing.. Btw,try googling the thing if you don't believe me that its all over the net guys..
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