The highly anticipated Xbox One June update is here, Microsoft announced, bringing several interesting features to users, including external storage support and better access to apps. Users will now be able to connect their external hard drives to the console in order to supplement the limited (for some) storage available on the device, and access more games and media files. The company says that USB 3.0-ready hard drives that have at least 256GB of storage will be compatible with the Xbox One, which will recognize such an external drive as the default storage option for future downloads once it’s configured. Users will be able to connect up to two external drives simultaneously.
Additionally, Microsoft has dropped the Xbox Live Gold subscription requirement on Xbox One and Xbox 360, which means that its more than 180 apps and experiences are available to more users. Furthermore, Microsoft revealed that Hulu will offer three months of Hulu Plus free trial to all Xbox Live Gold members in the U.S., or at least the ones that don’t already have a Hulu Plus subscription.
Xbox Live Gold members will also get access to two free games on the Xbox One, including Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Halo: Spartan Assault.
Xbox users will be able to use real names on Xbox Live if they so desire, following the June update, and will be able to share their full name with people on their friends list. An auto-sign in feature will let users set up an Xbox account to automatically sign in when the console is turned on, or coming out of standby.
Updates for both the Xbox One and Xbox 360 will be rolling out globally this week. The Xbox SmartGlass app has also been updated to offer deeper integration with consoles, including better Twitch integration.
A video showing the new features in the June Xbox update follows below.
