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PS4 5.0 Update is Live for Beta Testers, All Features Detailed

From streaming capabilities to custom friends list, there's a lot coming in the next firmware update for PS4 users.

Charles Singletary Jr

August 17, 2017 9:59 AM

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We reported on Sony's PS4 5.0 update previously, focusing on the huge feature that would be coming for streamers. Those using Twitch will have the ability to stream at 1080p 60FPS on PS4 Pro after the firmware update. Now that the update is available for beta testers, Sony has gone into great detail on all of the other features that will be coming with 5.0.

Families on PlayStation Network

The existing master/sub-account system is being redesigned to be more family friendly. This new “family on PSN” system will offer a more flexible experience, make it easier to set up PSN accounts for children, and customize parental control settings for each family user. Below are the new features that will be introduced with update 5.00:

• Family Manager, parents/guardians and child accounts

Each family on PSN will now have a Family Manager. In turn, the Family Manager can promote any other adult in the family to be a parent or guardian.

From there, each parent or guardian can customize the parental control levels of each child account, such as restricting certain age ratings or online access.

• Individual parental controls

Before this update, the same parental controls were applied to all users on the same console, including adults. But with 5.00, all controls (including game age ratings) can be individually controlled for each child account.

Friend list management

In place of the current ‘Favourite Groups’ tab, we’re adding a new ‘Custom Lists’ tab on the ‘Friends’ screen.

This will allow you to create and edit custom lists of your friends and arrange them into specific groups, based on the games you play, or groups of friends you like to hang out with online. For example, you can create a custom list of your Destiny teammates and easily send them raid invites.

Broadcast feature updates

• Communities

If you’ve set up a community on your PS4, you can now link your community to your live gameplay broadcast. When a broadcast is linked to a community, the community button appears on the ‘Live from PlayStation’ spectator screen, allowing any spectator to jump directly into your community page to check out the details or join.

• PlayStation VR

We’ve added a new setting in PlayStation VR: ‘Display Message to Spectators and Spectators’ Comments’. Once this is enabled, spectator comments sent during a broadcast are displayed not only in cinematic mode but also in VR mode – so you’ll be able to read comments and interact with spectators from within your PS VR headset.

• PlayStation 4 Pro

Good news for Twitch users: with this update, PS4 Pro will support 1080p 60fps streaming on Twitch.

Message improvements

You’ve already been able to share your favorite music to Twitter and Facebook via Spotify and PlayStation Music, but now you’ll also be able to share individual tracks by sending a message on PS4.

Your friends will be able to listen to the track directly from the message you send, and if they’re on their mobile device, they can jump directly to their Spotify app from the PS Messages app to check out the song and add it to their own playlist.

Notifications updates

We’ve added a new setting that allows you to disable pop-up notifications while you’re watching a movie or TV show on your PS4. This setting is set to ‘off’ by default, so go to Settings > Notifications to enable it.

Furthermore, you now have the option to turn off message previews on your pop-up notifications. If you turn this setting off, the pop-up notification will hide the message senders’ online ID and will display a generic user icon and message instead.

Lastly, you’ll have the option to change the color of your pop-up notifications to either white (default) or black.

Quick Menu updates

If you want to keep an eye out on what’s happening in your Notifications tab – like game download progress or new invitations – you can now access this directly from the Quick Menu without leaving your game.

Also, we’ve added a ‘Leave Party’ option in the Quick Menu, so you can easily exit a party and go right back to playing your game.

Virtual surround sound on PS VR

PlayStation VR now supports 5.1ch and 7.1ch virtual surround sound through your headphones when watching Blu-rays and DVDs in Cinematic Mode, making for an even more immersive viewing experience.

Improved tournaments bracket viewer

We’ve added a new ‘bracket viewer’ that shows full tournament brackets for Single Elimination and Double Elimination tournaments on PS4, making it easier for you to see the current tournament standings.

Updated language support

The PS4 user interface now supports Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Greek, Thai, Indonesian and Vietnamese languages.

As always, if you’ve been chosen as a beta tester, your feedback is really important to us and lets us fine-tune the new additions ahead of the full system software release. We really hope you enjoy using these new features – let us know how you get on in the comments below, and through the usual feedback forums.

Charles Singletary Jr

News Editor

Charles Singletary Jr keeps the updates flowing as the News Editor, breaking stories while investigating the biggest topics in gaming and technology. He's pretty active on Twitter, so feel free to reach out to him @The_CSJR. Got a hot tip? Email him at Charles.Singletary@Shacknews.com.