PlayStation 4 owners are seeing a rather large update roll out today. The update has been available for a little over a month now for those selected for the beta program but now it’s officially releasing for everyone. Many of the updates in the past fixed little things but that’s not the case with this update.
The master/sub-account system has been reworked into the Family of PlayStation Network plan. This new method allows multiple adults to be part of a single family and the Family Manager can promote another adult to a Parent/Guardian which allows them to customize parental controls of children’s accounts.
A new Custom Lists tab is being added within the Friends list which will allow you to create custom groups. For example, if you play Destiny with a select group of friends, you can put them in a group together so you don’t have to scour through your Friends list every time you want to invite them.
There are some new broadcasting updates being added as well, most notably the ability the stream 1080p 60 FPS content directly from your PS4 Pro. You can now create a community to bind to your stream. When a broadcast is linked to a community, the community button appears on the Live from PlayStation spectator screen. Once a spectator clicks on the community button, they’ll be able to jump directly to your community page to check out the details.
Notifications and messages received some reworks, too. You will now be able to share music from PlayStation music through a PS4 message. Your friends will now be able to listen to music straight from a message in PS4. Also, if you’re part of multiple (spam) groups, you now have the option to leave multiple at once.
If you’re watching TV or a movie, you now have the option to disable notifications while you’re doing so. You can now avoid being spammed by invites when you’re trying to binge watch a Netflix show. You can also change your pop-up notifications to either white or black now.
These are just some of the key features being added but there’s also a lot more if you’re interested. On PlayStation’s blog, you can read more about what’s being added here and here.
In what can be considered a surprising move, Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Andrew House is stepping down from his position. House oversaw the launch and growth of the PS4 and has been with Sony since 1990. He will be succeeded by John Kodera.
