Xbox One’s June system update brings external hard drives, real names, and more

By Will Fulton Published May 21, 2014

June’s system update for the Xbox One will bring a number of frequently-requested features to Microsoft’s flagship system.

With the update, your Xbox One will be able to support two external hard drives at once. USB 3.0 drives of 256 GB or larger can be plugged in and formatted, allowing you to copy and move apps, games, and gaming content. The feature will let you take your games over to a friend’s house and — after a quick verification through Xbox Live or disc insertion — jump right into your games.

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As your friend list grows, it can become difficult to keep everyone’s gamertags straight. The real names feature, which takes a page from the PlayStation 4 playbook, will allow you to recognize friends on your list and more easily discover people you know that are also on Xbox Live. The feature will be optional, granting you full control of how your name is shared with any subset of your friends, friends-of-friends, or no one at all.

The SmartGlass app will also be receiving a host of new features, adding full second-screen access to OneGuide and Universal Remote Control on supported SmartGlass devices, letting you view TV listings, set and view favorite channels, and control recording with your DVR. The SmartGlass app will also be reconfigured to feature “hero stats” and your activity feed front and center, letting you keep tabs on your friends even when away from the console.

These features will be added in the impending June update, along with previously announced improvements to Xbox Live and Skype.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

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