While we’d expected the PlayStation 5’s user interface to be an iteration of the PlayStation 4’s, it sounds like Sony has started from scratch. Publicly responding to comments on LinkedIn, PlayStation’s VP of UX Design Matt MacLaurin revealed that the manufacturer’s next-gen system features a “100 per cent overhaul of the PS4 UI and some very different new concepts”.
Chief among these is that it’s going to be lightning fast – MacLaurin says that the entire UI’s performance is being measured in milliseconds across the board – but also that it features a “whole new visual language”. He said: “[There are] some key new bets that you’ll see soon. Very few pixels [remain from] the PS4 gen.”
The former Apple employee also heaped praise on PlayStation's marketing team: “[They are] the best in the business in my opinion. They’re comparable to Nest in their prime, but profitable. Brilliant marketing always looks effortless.”
We’re excited to see this new PS5 user interface. We caught a glimpse of it prior to Astro’s Playroom during last week’s reveal event, but system architect Mark Cerny has also hinted at how Sony’s managed to integrate the menus from games into the operating system, making it more efficient to get to the content you want. And there’s also the prospect of a PlayStation Assistant to look forward to.
[source linkedin.com, via resetera.com]
Comments 42
Surprised they're starting from scratch. Hope this doesn't mean we have to wait years for key features that are already present on PS4.
@get2sammyb yeah that’s always the concern isn’t it? Maybe we’ll get folders in 2025!
I think this is a good thing. I'm also a little wary of the features being a bit bare bones early on but have confidence they'll get a lot right
Just some facts:
That's awesome.
You dont want iteration that got so heavy like Windoze.
Edit
Plus PS5 need something fully using its potential like the SSD and doesnt have to be filling the RAM.
As long as I can finally pin some games so that they don't vanish off into the library then I'll be happy
I just want no waiting time between UI elements. Shouldn't be so hard.
@Mega-Gazz So in your opinion it could be the similar "under the hood" code with a new lick of paint?
@Mega-Gazz so true. I just hope they optimize their backend also so UI doesn't wait that much all the time...
I just want a complete library list, not the bull***t of 2-3 lists, from which I can barely find something.
And my PS4 library is relatively small, only 50-something titles.
@get2sammyb it could be based on what they said - or they could have started from scratch. I was trying to be as emotionless as possible in translating terms.
From a financial point of view it is rarely desireable to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but on the other hand every developer ever always wants to start from scratch rather than work with old code.
Also, proper descriptions in PS store are welcome.
One question well maybe 2 in one: will the ui crash and will it need constant stability updates 😆😅
I hope it's fast. My PS4 is getting slower all the time and locking up and freezing up. I do have a tonne of games in folders on my home screen though. I don't and can't get unlimited data, so i need to keep all my fave games and ps+ games downloaded and ready to go. Something that i think will be a problem for me with PS5 after a while thanks to the brilliant but sub 1tb ssd. My ps4 has a 2tb hdd and i have another external 2tb hdd all full.
Just like most UI's coming to the end of their life, the PS4 one is getting a bit sluggish at times. I quite like the layout though, I never have any difficulty in finding anything. And please can we have a better store, the one on PS4 has never be reliable.
lighting fast, spectacular, wow....and then just me waiting for the wish list....
Aslong as it isn't full of adverts then I'm fine with whatever
@Mega-Gazz on that I 100% concur with you. They're talking about visual language / visual semantics, which are all semiotics, not necessarily the underlying interaction. There may be a different flow to those interactions because of the UX design, but that doesn't necessarily mean less functionality
Oh dear.... the simple to use PS4 interface is the reason is one of the reasons I’ve stuck with it, although the Xbox now has some neat features too. So I hope Sony don’t mess it up starting from scratch, keep that simple easy to use ideology.
For those worrying about them starting from scratch, they might have too in terms of code. There is for instance very little of the original PS4's interface code left, yet in terms of appearance it looks the same. We know the PS5, like it's predecessor will use a version of FreeBSD, so There is likely to be very similar functionality to what there is now. It's most likely the visual presentation that's likely to change mostly.
Can't wait to get get those sweet, sweet "This system software update improves system performance" messages in a brand new PS5 interface!
I'm all up for a change.... better than what the Xbox is doing with their UI (which is already crap, btw) by leaving it practically the same as their last console. Who cares about change (generations) and innovation right? By now, I'm sure as hell Xbox does not...
I hope so, because the PS4 UI is terrible. It lags almost anytime you move, and I have a Pro.
@Mega-Gazz This is the utmost truth, especially when it comes to UX/ UI design. Starting anew provides freedom to implement new ideas and features.
@Ken_Kaniff It's definitely your system. I have the Pro and it rarely lags.
@Ken_Kaniff
It’s defo your system mate I have a pro and other than fan noise sometimes I can’t fault it. It’s seems so much faster than the UI on one of my sons Xbox’s my other kids have PS4’s also and have no issues.
@Kunfoostu Hell it's done it since I bought it two years ago. It's the Spiderman Special Edition Pro. Maybe I just got a bunk ass system. Because I dont remember having many issues out of my baseline PS4.
@Ken_Kaniff
Some models seem dodgy in my experience. I’ve got a few PS4’s in my home various models and they’ve all been great apart from the first ps pro I owned which I bought when they first came out. That thing had lousy WiFi connection was noisy as hell and just not that great considering it was supposed to be better/faster than standard PS4 I traded it in last year for the newer PS4 pro model and it’s superb best model I’ve owned....fallout 76/fortnite etc never hardly disconnect anymore. It’s much better in the fan department and I only have issues in the UI if I’m doing a lot in it. Ie playing a game while downloading multiple things and in ps plus.
I'd like to see an option to sort games in folders alphabetically. It gets really annoying to manually sort hundreds of games each time I need to clear the cache on my system.
Also the same with trophies but also add the option to delete trophies above 0%.
@GADG3Tx87 You managed to download hundred games? I have maybe 30 and my 1Tb is full...
Hope for some kind of XBM from PS3. ☺️
@djlard
Yeah. I have a 2TB internal and an 8TB external HDD. I'm using about 4TB at the moment.
Its been no better than average since the launch of the last generation so not that hard to improve on
I wonder if they do this on purpose, slowing stuff down on previous/current hardware to give more incentive to upgrade to next-gen. Why?
Because this was exactly the same during the end days of PS3. UI was horribly slow, as was browsing in the PS-store.
Now this is happening again on the PS4 🤔
@Aexurion One would wonder, while you browse thru just a bunch of icons. I think, that problem is in that stupid "What's new" facebook gadget, that only wastes operation memory and cannot be deleted. @GADG3Tx87 ohh We have only 1tb versions in our stores, and all of my external hdds seems to be old, because ps4 don't accept them...
@djlard
Mine was a 1TB when I bought it but I installed a 2TB myself. As for externals they must be no lower than USB 3.0 to work with the PS4. It will accept no larger than 8TB externally.
I just bought an 8TB Seagate Barracuda and put it in a USB 3.0 enclosure.
I know its not directly related to the UI but I'd love to see some extra functions on the psn store interface. Wishlisting directly via the console (rather than via pc),& maybe gifting to your friends etc?
I want the UI to be like the title screen from Detroit: Become Human, with an android talking me through my game selection & asking me how my day was.
And then with every so called performance improvement firmware update it will screw it up make it sluggish and they'll add stuff no one wants or can't get rid off. The UI should be clean nothing apart from maybe settings section a media for like Netflix ore installed because everyone or nearly uses that. And you then choose what you want on your system to save space like if you don't intend to get a camera then you don't need the software
When they have special presentations why can't I just use my console why can't they just have a streaming system of there own directly to console ???
@GADG3Tx87 There is the problem, all my externals are usb 2.0... 🤔
@Ken_Kaniff The UI is not terrible its the performance thats terrible.
@TrueAssassin86x probably
new UI or not it's going to lag like hell over time i bet, the ps4 UI lags a whole lot already so it's uncertain if the ps5 will be stable enough, (no phun intended)
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