The beta for the PlayStation 4’s major system software update 5.50 rolled out today, and Sony has shared with us a sneak preview of some of features you can expect to see when the update goes live. The major features include Play Time Management, Library UI updates, enhancements to the Quick Menu, and plenty of quality-of-life improvements.
Play Time Management allows family managers or parental guardians to manage the PS4 playtime for child family members on PSN. Through your PC browser or smartphone, you can check and manage your child’s playtime each day, and apply playtime restrictions such as when or the amount of time they are allowed to play in a day. The system will notify the child when their gameplay time is ending giving them time to save and exit, or giving you the option to add extra game time.
The Library UI is also getting two new tabs that make it easier for you to see which apps you’ve installed and purchased. The ‘This PS4’ tab lists all the applications that are installed on your PS4 system, and the tab with your name/avatar lists all of the apps that you’ve purchased with your PSN ID. Additionally, a PS Plus tab is being added which clarifies what games you own from PS Plus’ Monthly Free Games.
Another new feature for the library coming with update 5.50 is the ability to hide certain applications (betas, trials, and demos) from the ‘Purchased’ tab.
Other quality-of-life improvements include:
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Quick Menu Enhancements: Quickly access specific friends in your custom list via the pulldown menu; also see who’s currently online
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Control specific background music functions from the Quick Menu, including volume and play/pause
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Play Background Music while streaming a game on PS No
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Delete old notification
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Import custom wallpapers via US
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Customize Tournaments team pages with your own team logo or background that you can import from a US
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Supersampling Mode on PS4 Pro
There's no word yet on when update 5.50 will be released to the public.