The latest monthly update for Xbox One is a handy one, as now users can cut straight to their games just by picking up a controller.
Rolling out later today, the update lets users sync up their Xbox Live accounts to a specific controller — making signing in as simple as turning on your personally appointed gamepad.
This, in conjunction with Xbox Design Lab (which creates custom-colored and engraved controllers) and the console's button-remapping feature, makes it all the easier to find yourself a peripheral for Microsoft's game machine that suits your needs.
Additionally, this could make sharing a console with multiple people easier, as your Xbox knows only to sign in whomever's controller is active.
Of course, this requires having each person have their own controller — which can be wasteful for large groups but might work for, say, siblings who have trouble sharing or having an assigned "guest" controller for when you have friends over.
To activate the new log in feature, first log into your account using the controller you want synced up. From there, go to "Settings," choose “Sign-in, security & passkey,” hit “This controller signs in" and finally, choose “Link controller” to make your own personal account/controller combo.
Make your Xbox your own
Logging-in via your favorite controller isn't the only way Xbox's new update helps with personalization. After a long time coming, Xbox One users can now upload custom pictures to serve as their Xbox Live Gamerpic.
Xbox clarifies that your newly uploaded avatar image must still follow the Xbox Live Code of Conduct, however, so give that a read before deciding if you want to get cheeky with your new profile pic.
Also incoming is co-streaming on Microsoft's recently re-branded Mixer service for Xbox consoles, which can now be found in the "Invite" tab when browsing your friends list.
With co-streaming, up to four players can now join in on the same game stream for a multi-view experience — something that should come in handy for watching multiplayer games on the console-based streaming platform. (Looking at you, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.)
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