Xbox Update for May includes improved Quick Resume, Passthrough Audio and more

As was announced earlier today, the latest and greatest Xbox system and dashboard update (for Xbox One and/or Xbox Series X|S) will have a few nice improvements and features to check out as it starts rolling out today.

The highlights for the May 2021 update includes some much needed improvements to the Xbox Series X Quick Resume functionality which now provides details on which games support the feature and a way to group existing saves, quicker load times when resuming, and fixes to make the process overall more reliable.

There’s also Passthrough Audio for media apps which lets the console stream the audio untouched to an A/V receiver if users prefer it to be decoded and processed there.

Additionally there are also new dynamic backgrounds, the new “Ask a parent: Multiplayer” Xbox Family Settings feature, and improvements to the Xbox mobile app, and more.

See the announcement from the Xbox News site here and below, and check out some screens as well.

Team Xbox is excited to continue bringing new ways to make Xbox better, including refining the experience and delivering brand new features, based on your feedback. This month?s release includes new Quick Resume improvements, passthrough audio for media apps, and more.

New Quick Resume improvements
Quick Resume is a feature powered by the technical capabilities of the innovative Xbox Velocity Architecture in Xbox Series X|S. It lets you seamlessly switch between multiple games and resume gameplay instantly right from where you last left off. With this update, Quick Resume is getting even better, with improved reliability and faster load times.

We?ve also made it easier to identify and access games that support and are saved to Quick Resume. You?ll be able to see if your current game supports Quick Resume with a new tag.  Gamers on Xbox Series X|S can also take advantage of a new group that lists all the games currently saved in Quick Resume. You can use the group to see which games are ready launch from Quick Resume and launch from there. Like other groups, you can add it to Home for quicker access or customize your experience by removing a game from the Quick Resume state.

Passthrough audio for media apps
Try passthrough to make audio on your favorite Xbox media streaming apps like Disney+, the Apple TV app, Plex, Vudu, and more sound even better. Passthrough lets audio decoding from media apps on your compatible HDMI devices bypass the console for the highest quality listening experience with your external sound system. To start using it, see the new Allow Passthrough button on the Xbox audio settings screen. You?ll see an indicator in the guide when you use a compatible media app with passthrough audio enabled.

Watch game trailers with Xbox Game Pass  
Discover your next favorite game on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One with faster and easy access to spotlight trailers for games in the Xbox Game Pass library. Now game titles featured in the spotlight on the Game Pass hub will play trailers when you focus on them. This means fewer clicks for you when previewing the latest and greatest additions to Game Pass. To play the trailers with audio, click on the tiles.

New dynamic background ? Motes
For the launch of Xbox Series X|S, the team added dynamic backgrounds, a new feature letting you customize your Home screen with motion and color. This month, we?re offering the new pattern? ?Motes?. You can find the new Motes dynamic background in Settings > General > Personalization > My background > Dynamic background

Ask a parent: Multiplayer by title
Last fall, we launched the Xbox Family Settings app for free on iOS and Android and continue to release feature updates to provide families with simple tools to help manage their kids? gaming. Starting this month, you can approve multiplayer games ? where you can play and communicate with other gamers ? by specific title, directly from your console or in the Xbox Family Settings app. If your child wants to play a specific game in multiplayer mode but they?re blocked by family settings, they can send a request to unblock multiplayer for that game only. You?ll get a notification through the Xbox Family Settings app with the option to learn more about the game and then decide whether to approve your kid?s request. Any family organizer in your Family Group can remove the game from the approved list at any time from your phone or console.

Xbox app for Android and iOS keeps getting better
Last month we added leaderboards to the Xbox app on Android and iOS. This month, we?re continuing to evolve the experience by releasing a few more updates. First, stay connected with a new push notification that lets you know when your favorite friends go online. We?re also updating achievements game pages to add game stats, including ?time played?. Lastly, reliability is incredibly important to us, and we?re happy to say we?ve made some changes that improve the performance on loading your chats tab and sending messages in the app.

Smart Glass app for PC
We?ll be sunsetting the Xbox One SmartGlass app for PC starting this June. This means the SmartGlass app will be removed from the Microsoft Store and there will be no further updates for those who have the app already downloaded to their devices. You can continue to use the Xbox app for Windows 10 PCs to discover and download new games with Xbox Game Pass, see what your friends are playing, and chat with them across PC, mobile, and Xbox consoles.