Microsoft is rolling out a redesigned Xbox PC app that opens up to 60 percent faster, with Xbox Insiders able to test it starting today. The same refresh is also moving into Xbox Cloud Gaming, where the updated interface will begin appearing over the next few weeks.
The speed gains are the kind users notice right away. Jason Beaumont said the app now launches up to 60 percent faster, while pages like Home, Store and Game Pass load up to 50 percent faster and in-app windows open up to 65 percent faster. For people who use Xbox on a controller, the simplified navigation should make the PC app easier to move through, while the library area now has updated filters and better ways to organize installed games.
Microsoft is pushing the redesign across more than one screen because the company wants the same basic experience to feel familiar whether someone is on PC or in cloud play. Friends now sit on the main page of the Xbox PC app, and quick buttons make it easier to start a chat or join a party. Microsoft has also refreshed the game card UI, along with the home and settings sections, while the web version of Xbox Cloud Gaming now carries a similar look and feel.
The changes do not land everywhere in exactly the same way. Microsoft has customized the designs so they are not identical across PC, web and smart TVs, and the new UI is also coming to Xbox Cloud Gaming on supported TVs and VR headsets. A new library tab highlights cloud games across a user's own library and Xbox Game Pass, and a desktop mode makes better use of larger displays. Users can also choose between dark and light modes, along with five high-contrast options.
That leaves one part of the Xbox experience still catching up. The redesigned Xbox PC app is moving quickly, but the Game Bar interface on handhelds still feels out of place for now, even as Microsoft says it expects to improve that part of the experience in the coming months. Beaumont said the work is meant to make Xbox faster, simpler and more familiar wherever people play, and the next few weeks will show how much of that promise reaches beyond the Xbox Insiders testing group. Similar designs are due soon on smart TVs and VR headsets, which is where the company will have to prove the new look works outside the PC window.
