PS4 Update Lets You Share Games With PS5
PlayStation 4 software update 8.50 is now available for download. Along with adding some new features, Sony has taken away users' access to the Communities tab.
- Sony released a software update for the PlayStation 4 console that brings the system up to version 8.50;
- Changes include: an expansion of the Share Play feature, which now allows games to be shared between PS4 and PS5 users, as well as the introduction of new customizable accessibility options;
- With the new patch, access to the Communities tab has finally been removed from the console's menu.
The PlayStation 4 OS update has left the open beta testing phase and is available to all users. The patch weighs less than 500 MB and introduces a number of new features, including an expanded Share Play feature that enables us to share games between PS4 and PS5. At the same time, Sony has finally removed the Communities tab from the console menu.
Beta testers initially reacted positively to the latter and started creating new places where they could chat and exchange game screenshots. However, this solution quickly became cumbersome, causing PlayStation 4 users to abandon it. Sony's decision is obviously dictated by the gradual reduction in support for the previous generation, to focus on developing the PlayStation 5, which - also today - received its first major software update. Still, it's a bit of a shame, isn't it?
The new features are supposed to partially compensate for this loss. The biggest among them is the Share Play feature, which now lets us not only chat between players, but also share games between PS4 and PS5 users. By submitting a request or receiving an invite, we can join in with friends as a spectator, grab a gamepad and play together in co-op mode or - with the session host's permission - take control of the game. Of course, this does not apply to all titles - those that allow it will display an appropriate icon.
There's also a greater degree of personalisation in terms of what's available on PlayStation 4 - we can turn on and off notifications from groups we belong to, define who can interact with us via Pages, Games and Messages, and friends won't be able to see what we've got running if we hide a particular title in our library.
Download of the update to our console should begin automatically. If this doesn't happen - for example, because our PS4 is unable to connect to the network - we can install the new software manually, via USB. The relevant files can be found here.
