While many PC avid gamers favor to play within the conventional mouse-and-keyboard alignment, moveable PC gaming has began to quietly take off. Microsoft’s up to date Xbox app acknowledges this, with a brand new compact mode that’s suited to smaller screens.

Portable consoles just like the Valve Steam Deck, the Lenovo Legion GO, and ROG Ally permit PC video games to be taken on the go, however the smaller screens can play havoc with conventional UI parts, usually forcing avid gamers to navigate by way of tiny menus and squint-to-read textual content.

Microsoft’s replace to the Xbox app tries to repair that, decreasing the sidebar to a collection of navigable icons, whereas leaving the vast majority of display for explanatory textual content. The thought is that you just’ll intuitively perceive the “row of books” icon to imply your library, and so forth. To use this characteristic, click on in your profile within the top-left nook of the app and activate the toggle for “Compact mode,” Microsoft said. Microsoft can be working with Asus and different moveable gaming {hardware} makers to make this view the default.

Other options are being added to the app, too, together with tweaks to the notifications to solely show unread notifications, in addition to a “Gaming Services Repair Tool,” a troubleshooter to repair any points with the Gaming Services required to launch the Xbox app on PC. You’ll now have the ability to redeem rewards in your console with cellphone authentication, too.