Sony Announce PS4 4.5 Update Details

The next version of the PS4 software is due later this year, and it's a moderately big one this time. We've seen a few updates that add minor things, but this one adds a few features that fans have been quite eager to see hit Sony's rhombus of tricks.

The release date hasn't yet been announced, but it's expected to hit at least within the next two months. If you're a beta program customer then you can expect a code to be emailed out to you very soon giving you access to a sneak preview. Here's what you can expect to see:

Custom Wallpapers

Your screenshots can be used as wallpaper now. Edit your pictures in Sharefactory and you can amend them to your liking before setting them as the background to your system menus. Shadows on text, and the option to dim the Function Area have been added to help keep the system icons and texts on the home screen clearly visible even on bright backgrounds.

External HDD Support

The PS4 is already upgradeable by swapping out the hard drive. But if you've maxed that out or you're just unwilling to take a screwdriver to your console, then there's now a new option. Plug in a USB HDD of up to 8TB and you can use that as storage, installing and playing games directly from the drive. Save files are still stored on the PS4 locally though, so leave a little room on your main drive for those.

 

Brand New Quick Menu

There's a refresh to the Quick Menu feature again. After the overhaul in the last update, we'd assumed this wouldn't be changing again for a while, but v4.5 will see further improvements made. Now the Quick Menu will cover even less of your gameplay screen, and you’ll be able to access handy Party features via Online Friends, like creating new parties, inviting friends, and joining parties, without transitioning to the separate Party app.

Simplified Notification List

Let's be honest, the Notification List on the PS4 is needlessly convoluted with all the categories it divides everything into. It's now set to be condensed into an easier to manage list, so you can read through your notifications at-a-glance instead of endlessly scrolling. You can also select which notifications to be alerted about so you don't need to have pop up messages for the ones that you don't want to see.

There's a few other add-ons such as the ability to post directly to Activity Feeds and 3D Blu-Ray support for the PSVR. The full details, along with more screenshots, are available on the official PS4 website.