PS4 System Software 2.00 Preview: USB Music, Home Screen Colors

You may already know that PS4’s upcoming system software 2.00, codenamed Masamune, adds some big features including Share Play, YouTube support, and Themes – but the updates don’t end there. I have personally stated in past blog posts that we listen to our fans. PlayStation has heard gamers when they say they want more ways to find friends to play with, and more ways to personalize their PS4. With this update, we’ve added a Players You May Know tile, the ability to listen to your music while gaming, the option to change the look of your PS4 experience, and easier ways to sort and filter your library of content on PS4.

PS4 has been on sale for almost a year and we’re committed to improving the player experience in entirely new ways. As always, we welcome feedback as part of our ongoing effort to make PS4 the best place to play.

USB Music Player: PS4 owners can play their own music in the background while playing a game using USB Music Player*. After inserting a USB stick loaded with music into the PS4, a new option for USB Music Player will appear. Supported filename extensions include MP3, MP4, M4A, and 3GP.

Change colors: In addition to the ability to add a theme, PS4 owners can also change the background of the home screen from light blue to one of seven new colors: gold, blue, red, green, purple, pink, and gray.

Players You May Know: PS4 will now suggest players you may know as potential friends in the ‘What’s New’ section.

Enhancements to Live Broadcasting: Masamune brings a variety of improvements to live broadcasting on PS4. In the Live From PlayStation app, PS4 owners can now select a Featured channel, which includes official broadcasts from PlayStation, broadcasts from people on a players friend list, and any game channel that the player has followed. Additionally, Live From PlayStation now has filters for searching broadcasts on a specific game, as well as support for archived broadcasts.

Content Area and Library: PS4’s Content Area, which shows the latest games and apps a PS4 owner has used, has been redesigned to help make it easier to quickly find and access content. It now shows 15 of a player’s most used apps or games, and additional items will be added to a player’s Library. The Library on PS4 has improved filter and sort functions to help organize contented by type (game / app / TV & video), name (a – z or z – a), recently used, or install date.

Enhanced Voice Commands: The ability to control PS4 using voice has been improved. Players can now say ‘PlayStation’ to begin commands, and ‘All Commands,’ to see a list of all voice command options available. New voice commands were added for live broadcasting, including “Start broadcast,” “End broadcast,” and “Find face.”

Add To Library: The monthly free PlayStation Plus games will have an ‘Add to Library’ button in the PlayStation Store. This button will add a game to a PS4 owner’s library without downloading it – saving space on their hard drive.

Correction: Back Up Data, a feature listed in an earlier version of this post, is not part of PS4 system software 2.00.

PS Vita and PS TV – 3.35 update, Live From PlayStation

The PS Vita and PS TV systems will also receive a system software update to version 3.35 with the same timing as Masamune, adding four-player Remote Play support to PS TV. In addition, the Live from PlayStation app, which allows users to watch live gameplay streams from PS4 systems, will be available on both PS Vita and PS TV alongside this update.

PlayStation App 2.0 update

The PlayStation App for smartphones and tablets, available free on the App Store and Google Play, is also set to receive an update to version 2.0 within the same launch window as both the PS4 and PS Vita system software updates. This update provides a new layout for tablets, and the app’s home screen has been redesigned.

Stay tuned for more information on Masamune. We can’t wait for everyone to try it!

* User can play music files stored inside USB storage but cannot copy music files to PS4 HDD. This application cannot be used at the same time with Music Unlimited. USB Music Player will appear once USB storage is inserted, and will disappear once USB storage is removed.