Xbox’s November update adds new compact UI for Windows devices

Xbox has revealed what’s coming in its November update, and there’s quite a few meaningful changes arriving.

The leading feature is the new compact UI added to all Windows devices. As the official Xbox blog post explains, Compact mode is designed to give players on smaller monitors and screens – such as the Asus ROG Ally – a better user interface experience overall. To enable Compact mode, players simply need to open up their Xbox profile on their device of choice and toggle it on from there.

In Compact mode, the side icons of the Xbox UI will be collapsed, thus allowing more room for the interface itself. Overall, this should give the UI more screen space and make more of it visible and clear at once. Xbox has also confirmed partnering with brands like Asus to “ensure that Compact mode is enabled by default on your handheld devices.”

Another update, this time for Xbox Series X|S consoles, adds Japanese language support for physical and virtual keyboards. Players can now switch to the 106/109 Japanese layout or 101/102 English layout should they prefer or need to type in Japanese. You can make this change by heading to your console’s Settings, followed by System, then Language & Location.