PlayStation 4’s 5.50 Firmware Beta Going Out To Select Players

If you registered for the beta test of the next significant PlayStation 4 firmware update, you should check your email to see if you’ve been selected to participate! Sony is currently rolling out the update, and here’s a rundown of the new features you’ll get to play with.

PLAYSTATION 4 5.50 BETA GOING OUT TO SELECT USERS

The PlayStation 4’s 5.05 firmware is currently the most up-to-date version that’s publicly available. Select users can now install a beta version of the forthcoming 5.50 update, and Sony published a blog post detailing 3the new features this update will provide.

The biggest enhancement is probably the revised Library section and its “This PS4” menu. Two new tabs will allow users to quickly gleam which apps have been installed and purchased. Furthermore, you’ll be able to “hide” apps of your choosing that you’ve purchased, so they won’t take up space in the menus if you lack interest in revisiting them. Another new tab will cleanly mark which titles are owned through Sony’s PlayStation Plus program. Should your Plus membership run out, a lock icon will adorn these titles, reminding you to renew.

Play Time Management is another new feature that will grace this update. As its name suggests, this tool will allow you to oversee how often the kids are playing on the console. Should your kids be spending a little too much time playing, you can set restrictions, such as allotting finite hours of playtime or preventing them from playing during certain times. You can also set your kid’s account to automatically log out once their playtime is over. This can all be managed through the PlayStation 4’s settings or through Sony’s website, the latter of which can be accessed through any computer or smartphone.

Other new luxuries include a spiffier Friends tab and a Quick Menu, the latter of which will make it easier to listen to your favorite tunes, even when streaming a game through PS Now. The Notifications sector of the user interface will be updated with the ability to manually delete older, unimportant notifications. You can import customized wallpapers from a USB drive, and you can also customize tournament pages with your artistic flair. Finally, PlayStation 4 Pro owners score a new “supersampling mode,” granting “an enhanced visual experience when playing some PS4 games” to “those with HDTVs (i.e., 1080p or less).”