It's an exciting day, as Sony has released a new firmware update for PS5, taking the system software to version 26.01-12.60.00.
Does this one actually do anything substantial, or is it another featureless stability update? Well, while there aren't any major new features to shout about, the update does have a couple of things worth pointing out.
Probably the most notable addition is read receipts. With this update, you can now turn on read receipts, which will inform your friends when you've seen their messages. You can keep them off, if you prefer, of course.
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It won't be available to everyone immediately; Sony is rolling this out gradually, so if you don't see it straight away, don't worry.
On top of that, the firmware update makes a small quality of life change to a widget in the Welcome Hub. You'll be able to jump from the Friends Activity widget straight to the games your friends are playing, which makes sense.
Here are the full patch notes:
- You can now jump directly from the Friends Activity widget in your Welcome Hub to the games your friends are playing.
- You can now turn on read receipts to show other players when you've read their messages.
- To turn on your read receipts, go to Settings > Users and Accounts > Privacy > View and Customise Your Privacy Settings. Under Communication and multiplayer, set Show read receipts to other players on PS5 and PlayStation App to Allow.
- This feature will be rolled out gradually, and some users will be able to use it when the system software update is released.
- We've improved the messages and usability on some screens.
- We've improved system software performance and stability.
The update is about 1.3 GB, and is available to download and install now.
Comments 18
@Quintumply I am sure last year there was an update which allowed you to download the game if you had bought it physically so we don't have to leave the disc in all the time, I never found this option did it go live and if so how do I use it?
Wow, cannot wait for this patch! This solves all those long time problems! 🤦
I somehow doubt this update will solve the dreaded CE-108262-9 issue...
@Mostik Now that would be actually useful, especially for the future handheld which could play your digital library locally on the device.
@Mostik Really? Never heard of this. Maybe I missed it but Google is coming up with nothing.
I'd love to see it, but I don't see how that could work. You could just buy a game, sell it or lend it, and still have access. I don't believe there is any way of identifying each individual disc to prevent this.
@Mostik if i remember correctly that update only enabled that if you own both digital (also with PS plus) and physical versions that you don't need to insert the disc anymore, and you didnt need to remove the installed disc version first to play the digital one. You still need to own both.
Seems this doesn’t solve the hidden game issue in the game library. Gotta love it!
@themightyant Yeah when I read it, I thought what a brilliant QoL and Stephen wrote a separate article on it.
I misunderstood as per @1UP-HUSKY comment, found the article: https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2023/03/ps5-firmware-update-finally-changes-how-game-discs-work
Thought it was too good to be true 😂 Thanks for your replies folks 👍
@Mostik I remember this post, but unless I am misreading it it's not quite what you said, it's NOT about playing a game you own the disc of without the disc, instead it's being able to use the digital download with a disc version and vice versa. (EDIT as @1up-Husky already said, my bad)
Previously on PS5 if you insert a disc it installs a version of the game. If I then sold the disc and bought the digital version (or got it through PS+) I would have to delete the physical install and reinstall it again.
The same was true the other way. If I downloaded the game on PS+ Extra, then it left the service and I bought the disc copy, I would have to delete the digital game and reinstall the physical one. The two versions previously weren't compatible.
The post you mentioned combines these so you wouldn't have to re-download the game in these cases, but you would still need a disc in the drive.
@themightyant Thanks for the reply, makes sense and as you pointed out originally the way I thought of it would enable you to sell the game after installing which would make no sense commercially for Sony and is my misunderstanding!
Great if you own the game both ways but without a freebie on PS+ I wouldn't be buying both!
Thank you for clarifying 👍
Turns out I've bought a 500EUR worth chatStation
@themightyant @Mostik Glad you guys figured it out 😂
Note that the issue remains for certain Ubisoft games, which still differentiate between physical and digital... with separate installations and (annoyingly) separately tracked gameplay time. Fortunately save data is unified.
From memory, this applies to Assassin's Creed Mirage, The Crew Motorfest and Watch Dogs Legion, but not Star Wars Outlaws.
It's stupid but I hope this "stabilizes" the new animated backgrounds. The old ones work perfectly fine, but if I do the fireplace or animated seasonals, whether from hard off or standby mode, half the time the animations doesn't kick off until I move away from the page and back or sometimes even have to scroll down into the page and fiddle with something before it will start animating. This is on a Pro as well, so don't know if that's specific to that or not. It doesn't even really matter, just first world problems.
1.3Gigs just for receits?! 😑
@Nem isn’t it more or less the same size for each udpate. It’s simply the update package, regardless if we feel that some changes are bigger or lower. Furthermore there are always some kernel updates, security fixes for the system that’s based on Linux, etc.
Don’t get this confusion over download sizes anymore in these days. It’s not a 100 Gb package. If this update would be 300 Mb or the 1.3 Gb as it is, with a modern Internet connection it’s barely a difference.
Glad to see that they haven't forgotten about improved system software performance and stability in this patch.
PS4 security update 13.04 has landed too so Sony are obviously closing some loopholes.
@Quintumply
Are you folks experiencing the hidden games bug that's affecting all PS5's at the moment?
Has there been an update from Sony on a solution. The lists are stored server side, so unsure if a local update would fix it...
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