Sony is rolling out one of their biggest updates for the PS4 for beta testers tonight — but did not say when it will be available to the public. System Update 4.50 will allow users to finally use an external hard drive to increase the storage capacity, a feature available on the Xbox One since its debut. The update also comes with more features like custom wallpapers, freedom to post on activity feeds, and 3D Blu-ray support for the PlayStation VR.
PS4 owners have always had the option of swapping their internal hard drive, but fans now have the option to just plug in a USB 3.0 HDD to increase the space on their system. The update is compatible with HDDs up to 8TB in size, and data can be moved back and forth seamlessly from the internal drive to the external.
Many PS4 games are well over 50GB in size, and in the past, owners would have to delete and redownload games as they play them. After putting it off for years, the long awaited feature to get around this is here.
Sony made sure to include some quality of life improvements with this update as well. The current clunky notification tab will be condensed into one simplified list. Notification preferences will be updated as well, giving the option to set which notifications actually pop up on screen. The menu that appears after holding the Playstation button, also known as the Quick Menu, is designed to take up less than half the game screen now. Party features like inviting friends and creating parties can be done through the Quick Menu without having to open a separate app.
System Update 4.50 also adds the ability to post screenshots, text, and more, directly into the activity feed. In addition to seeing what your friends are playing and the trophies they won, the feed will be more personalized and similar to other social media outlets.
This may be the Playstation 4’s biggest firmware update yet, adding in a number of highly requested features like external HDD support and a seamless Quick Menu. There are still a number of key things missing like changing PSN usernames and more Bluetooth support, but it’s clear Sony is listening to fan requests. We don’t know when the update will officially be available to the public — but make sure to keep checking back here for more updates.
