Newsletter
The Xbox app on Windows handheld gaming devices is getting a new ‘Compact Mode’ feature. As the name suggests this will shrink the app’s user interface down just a bit to make it more usable on handhelds like the ROG Ally. The main difference is that tabs in the side menu have been consolidated into small icons to save space. When enabled, you’ll no longer see the full text name of those tabs. Instead, the icon will be there by itself to denote what each tab is.
Worth noting is that you don’t need to use Compact Mode on your Windows handheld devices. It’s an opt-in feature that you can toggle on and off at your leisure. It’s also only available after the most recent update to the Xbox app. So make sure your app is updated if you’re interested in using it.
Compact Mode in the Xbox app is not just for handheld devices
While there’s no doubt that handhelds will benefit from the Compact Mode probably more than any other Windows device, it’s not just for handhelds. You can in fact access Compact Mode in the Xbox app on desktops and laptops as well. After you update the app, which at this point should be available to all or most users, you’ll need to click on your profile avatar.
This will be located in the top left corner. After opening this menu there will be a toggle for the Compact Mode feature. Just toggle this on and it’ll condense the menu tabs down to the icons only. It’s a much cleaner look and one that plenty of users will probably find more enjoyable to use.
Limit notifications to unread only
This is another quality-of-life feature that Microsoft announced which is sure to please. if you’ve ever been annoyed by the string of notifications in the Xbox app for literally everything, you can kiss those days goodbye. Today’s Xbox app update implements a toggle for showing unread notifications only. You can enable this in the notifications drop down and after you do only notifications which you haven’t checked will be shown.