PS4 2.50 Firmware Update: Analysis & Overview of Hidden Features

Yesterday, Sony released a big PlayStation 4 firmware update with tons of new features. While the official list of features is pretty big, there’s a list of changes and features that were not officially announced. Let’s have a closer look at what the 2.50 PlayStation 4 firmware update brought:

Official firmware features

The list of features is pretty long and includes Trophy improvements, social features as well as new accessibility options, amongst others. Here’s the official list:

• Suspend/Resume* — Supported by nearly all of your PS4 games, you can jump in and out of your games with just the press of the PS button. Quickly switch from Rest Mode to powered-up so you can pick up where you left off.
• Back-Up and Restore HDD to USB — Back-up and restore your hard disc drive data associated with users on your PS4, including settings, saved data, screenshots and video clips as well as games, patches and download data, to and from an external USB drive.
• Find and Connect with Friends — “Yukimura” adds to an already robust set of social tools, bringing several updates to continue making PS4 the best place to play with your friends, including:
  • Facebook Friend Finder — Using your linked account, you can expand your network by searching and connecting with your Facebook friends.
  • Improved Friend requests — Friend requests and Real Name requests can be sent together in one step when adding a friend on PS4.
  • Streamlined Party process — The process to create a Party has been streamlined with a reduction in the number of steps required.
  • Find Friends who play your games — Easily view what friends are playing on each game detail page with a real-time “Friends Who Play This” section, which also highlights which friends are currently online and playing it, and if you own the game, allows you to jump directly into the game.
  • Join Friends directly from news feed — A new tile will be added on your What’s New feed where you can see what your friends are currently playing, enabling you to join in the game if you own it.
• Share Earned Trophies and Optimize Your Trophy List — We know that Trophies are important to many gamers, so we’re bringing more control with how you show them off:
  • Automatic Trophy Screenshots — A screenshot will automatically be captured when a Trophy is earned, preserving the moment to share with friends.
  • SHARE Trophies — Players can share Trophy information to Facebook, Twitter or via Message by pressing the SHARE button.
  • Additional Trophy sorting options — Sort your Trophy list by Earned Date, Not Earned and Grade.
  • Delete 0% Trophies — Remove games from your Trophy list that have zero percent completion.
• Improved and Expanded Accessibility Options — New options added to customize the user experience include:
  • Customized button assignments for DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller.
  • Zoom for displayed pictures and inverted colors for all system functions, apps and in-game.
  • Text-to-speech is available only for Message and Party, and is only performed in English.**
  • Enlarged text for all graphical user interface, including Message and Party, as well as the system’s browser.
  • Bolder fonts and higher contrast UI for all system applications (but will not apply to games or third-party applications).
• Remote Play and Share Play — For games that support 60 fps, users will be able to automatically enjoy those games with 60 fps for both Remote Play and Share Play*** on supported devices.
• Automatic Installation for System Software Updates — Enable automatic installation for future system software updates.
• Sub-Account Upgrade — Enable users 18 years of age or older with sub-accounts to upgrade to a master account directly on PS4, removing restrictions on chat and enabling users to add funds to their Wallet, purchase content and more.
• Verified Accounts — Select game developers, producers, designers and community managers will be verified with a badge.
• Dailymotion — Upload video clips directly to Dailymotion via the SHARE button.

Let’s have a closer look at this: The new suspend / resume feature is kinda awesome as you’re not able to resume a game without fully restarting it. If, for instance, you’re playing a game and want to go on a quick break, simply hit the PS button and select rest mode. As before, your PS4 will go in stand-by mode, but the next time you’ll start it you’re already in the game – just where you left before. This is especially cool for games like GTA V, where the long loading times can be quite annoying. This obviously does not work for multiplayer games, as you’ll be disconnected from the game as soon as sending the PS4 to rest mode.

With the storage capacity of the PS4 being rather limited at 500 GB, many people decide to install a bigger hard drive. While this does not harm the warranty, downloading all digital games and patches can be quite annoying – especially for people with a limited internet connection. With the new update, people can simply go ahead and create a backup to their external drive, making the storage upgrade process even easier. Cool stuff.

Next, Sony put a lot of effort in implementing social features and trophy improvements into Yukimura (the official 2.50 release name). You’re now able to sync your PS4 with Facebook, share stuff easier on the social network and find friends who also own a PS4. Finally, we’re also able to remove those annoying 0% trophy games from your trophy list.

Last but not least, Sony made a huge improvement for gamers with some sort of disability. While this won’t change much for many, it’s a gigantic step for people with visual or physical impairments. You’re now able to globally remap the controller-layout, making it possible for everyone to adjust their DualShock 4 to what works best for them.

Other features include improved remote play and easier party accessing

Hidden PS4 2.50 firmware update features

While the list of official features is pretty cool, there are a few new features not mentioned in the patch notes. These include

1. Quick menu tweaks: You can now restart the PS4 from the quick menu
2. More accurate download status: Background downloads of digital games are now included in the downloads menu
3. Visual improvements to app icons categorisation
4. Automatic update checks: When inserting a game disc the PS4 immediately checks for updates and launching the game is not required anymore
5. Hear voice-chat audio trough TV speakers with headphones connected

Things we’re still missing

Of course, after all the awesomeness that update brought, there are still many things missing and I hope to see them in a future update. Feel free to comment if there are any additional things that you’re missing.

1. DNLA & USB media support, especially for people with a NAS
2. Invisible mode: Some people just want to play online without being bugged from people on their friends list
3. Spotify integration: According to reddit, it’s hidden in the firmware and might get activated on March, 29th with Sony Music Unlimited shutting down
4. Folders for the system UI (Yes, I have too many games installed and want to get some order in it)
5. Friend coming online notification: I don’t understand why this is not a thing yet. I don’t care about friends joining a party, I want to see when they come online

All in all I have to say that I quite like this update – looks like Sony is finally getting their shit together.