February Xbox Update Adds Touch Controls to Remote Play

comingsoon.net:

The February 2024 update is rolling out to consoles around the world and one of the new features is the addition of touch controls while using Xbox remote play. There is also a new thumbstick calibration tool for Xbox Wireless Controllers and new sorting options for multiple areas of the Xbox dashboard.

The headline feature of the new Xbox update is that players no longer need a wireless controller when they play games away from their consoles. Custom touch controls are now available for more than 100 games when using remote play through the Xbox app on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. The full list of games to which this update applies has not been revealed but does include Minecraft Dungeons, Psychonauts 2, and Sea of Thieves. A basic non-customizable touch control layout can be used with “most other games” not on that list.

There’s also now the aforementioned ability to recalibrate thumbsticks for Xbox Wireless Controllers. This is meant to help players with issues like inconsistent responses so they can try to repair their controllers without having to contact support, send the controller off for repair, or return it. It’s worth noting this will NOT fix stick “drift due to normal wear and tear.”

Away from controllers, the “My games & apps” section of the dashboard now has new filters and sorts: accessibility, supported languages, and technical features (like touch enabled). The subscription dashboard tabs like Xbox Game Pass and EA Play also now have a “Recently added” sort option.

Finally, for shared consoles that are used in environments with a lot of different players, like children’s hospitals, there are new access restriction options to help with account security. In the Settings > System > Access Restrictions section of the menu, there are now toggles for allowing the use of the Edge browser, setting a home console, and deleting profiles automatically if they sign out.