Huge PS5 Firmware Adds Discord Voice Chat, VRR at 1440p, Much More

Need folders on the main screen! Still takes a bunch of clicks to get to them

The only thing I want at this point is an "update all installed games" option. Even thought I have every automatic stuff open games that are not on the home screen never get updated regardless of whether I have on the internal SSD or in an external HDD...

@LiamCroft - 'Game hubs have been expanded to include time played'

Hopefully that will help with the issue you raised the other day!

As far as I can tell from this, all it means for me is I have to plug in 5 controllers again to upgrade them all, which is a bloody nuisance by the way Sony. Any chance of letting us do it wirelessly at some point?

Edit: I see the notes have now been added and state this is possible. Thanks @theMEGAniggle for the heads up initially though.

I guess the more convenient trophy cards might be…more convenient, but probably not. And if the game time feature is taking from the same place that we have it currently, It’s simply not accurate enough to be of any interest anyway.

To be fair though, I honestly cannot think of any way I need the UI to be improved.

@thefourfoldroot1 you can now update the controllers wirelessly

@theMEGAniggle
Really? As of this update as the last one wouldn’t let me. That’s great if so!

@thefourfoldroot1 yeah it's new in this one (it won't work if the controller has very old firmware but you can still update those with the cable)

@DrVenture69 yes, yes and yes. we had to wait an eternity for them to update this feature on ps4! l don't get how something that seems so simple takes soooo long to implement

@Rob_230 I hope so, but I don’t have much faith 😂

"The trophy tile has been moved and updated so it's easier to access and displays your trophy progress."

Very nice.

@Voltan
That’s good. Will make things a lot faster. I guess it can still only do one at a time but it’s much better than having to kneel down and keep plugging them in individually. Thanks.

They added a PS3 option for the platform filter I got abit excited at first thinking it might mean native PS3 emulation incoming but that was just wishful thinking lol

Nice. Being able to find which friends own a game is very helpful.
I notice sorting of trophy list is still missing which is a little annoying, quite bizarre why this hasn't been implemented (PS3 and Vita both did it). Oh well psnprofiles still has its uses then. 😃

@IndoorEnthusiast what

Nice features. But all I really want is a good folder system, like we had on PS4. In which I can place folders right on the home screen. The game Library is a step in the right direction, but not good enough.
I don't want to scroll through endless lists with hundreds of items that aren't even installed on my console right now.
I just want to create folders on my home screen for my installed:

• PS5 games
• PS4 games
• PS VR2 Games
• PS VR1 Games

And I just want two things:

• Option to disable the startup beep (for not waking up other people in my flat)
• Option to disable all Trophies related messages, buttons etc.

No updates I would ever use. My only wish is a rather simple one; let us personalize the home screen with colors/themes. Just like the PS4 and Xbox have.

I'm still waiting for 3d audio support for proper home theater/speakers. It's been a long wait

Guess we're never getting themes back ...that's all I want

I just want to be able to sort the games out in my lists in alphabetical order.

Did they fix hogwarts legacy though ? As when I ran the beta , hogwarts wouldn't load?

@Ajfennell77 themes wouldn't work with ps5. Every game technically had there own theme when you select them

I kind of wish the playtime figure wasn't present on the main screen, or at least with no apparent way to turn it off.

I know it's always been available via the options on your profile, but I'd prefer not to be reminded every single time now of just how many hours I've put into some of these games!

Big positive for me is that as someone who doesn't have to mess about with discs (Digital Console) and who keeps their console out of sight behind the TV, not now having to plug in the dualsense for updates is a handy QoL win.

@johnny30 Think the PS5 could have themes - thing is it's missing the top level bar that the PS4 has so every game is like you automatically click down on a game on the PS4's UI.

Folders (proper ones - not the new joke ones) would solve a lot of this as a thing as the UI could have games in folders and the theme would be there in the background.

First thing to change is the 'music for funerals' playing so morbidly in the background - really depressing when compared to any of the PS4 themes, even the standard one.

PS4 UI still blows the PS5 one out of the water - why didn't Sony just build on what they already had? Looks like we're in for a long wait until we have something pleasant to use. At the moment, my SSD Pro has the PS2-esque theme and it looks so much cooler.

@sanderson72 hated the PS4 UI, everything was just hidden in more menus and got too clustered. PS5 is more open and snappier but is lacking some basic features evidently

Use filters in your library to easily find PS VR- and PS VR2-compatible games.

That's cool. I've got so many, I couldn't put them in one folder, so this will help.

What a meaty update… Honestly not much for me here, but maybe I’ll check out Discord. It hasn’t ever been a thing I felt I needed. My gaming time is my time to get away from other people, not to have to listen to someone else yammer while I’m trying to play. 😂 If someone else wants to talk to me while I’m playing I will pause the game until their finished and then resume when everyone shuts up.

About the only things that look interesting to me on this is the wireless DualSense updating and the ability to change default game library list filtering. And every once in a while I might benefit from the ability to not have to put a disc in when I already have a disc version of a game that I now have digitally by virtue of it dropping onto PS+. That’ll be nice to not have to separately redownload the digital version.

@jrt87 could be worse ,could just be one giant advertisement like Xbox lol

I don't get what this update does?

"The time required for performing integrity checks on downloaded data has been greatly reduced. This process is done while the Copying... label is displayed on the downloaded item in the Downloads/Uploads control in the control centre."

Nice, I'll be hooking it to the 1440p monitor for a while then.

@Snake_V5 pretty self-explanatory. When games/apps are downloaded a data integrity check is done. And that check is now quicker.

Yet compared to PS3 and 4, 5 has an absolutely abysmal user interface. 🤮 Patch that, Sony.

Great update. I hope they will expand the 1440p VRR options to add FreeSync support. Not everyone had a 1440p with HDMI 2.1.

Amen for the filter for PSVR2 games! My library is a mess right now...

The 1TB ssd I have is also not enough...I wish I could buy a 4TB one

@NeThZOR I've never noticed that though? I have seen before when it says copying though with PS4 games mainly.

Really pleased the PS5 will now check the cloud for game saves, I know we could just check ourselves but this is useful IMO, just need developers to allow this on every game as some don't recognise PS4 save file for PS% games - looking at you Cyberpunk!!

I'm interested to see whether yet another "stability" update for the dualsense will fix the issue where a controller will randomly refuse to connect up to the console after waking from rest mode, even though it wakes the console up.

About half the time I'm forced to restart the PS5 via the front button to login. But then every once in a while it won't happen for like a week straight. I've seen a few people here and on Facebook comment about the same problem, but evidently it's not a widespread thing.

@Quintumply PS4 has just had firmware 10.50 drop too:

You can now access your authorized apps in (Settings.)
Authorized apps are third-party apps and services that you’ve linked your account for PlayStation Network to. When using an authorized app, you give permission to share your account data with that app.
To view and manage your authorized apps, go to (Settings) > (Account Management) < (Authorized Apps) and then scan the QR code with your mobile device.
Friends that are active on your PlayStation App will now show up as online on your friends list.
Unicode 15.0 emoji can now be displayed.
You can see which of the players in your game session are on other platforms for games that support this feature.

Since time played has become part of a new feature in the UI, hopefully they have fixed that being so unreliable. The actual Games page itself where it would show that has been broken off and on for a while now. It wasn't updating at all for a few days, only to finally start working again yesterday. I know it's not the "marquee feature" of this new update, but it's really the one I care about the most out of it all, so I look forward to seeing if things are better with it all when I get online later.

@ThaBEN I thought I was going to have to do a lot of hunting and pecking when setting up a gamelist for VR, but adding games via the options button is quick. I guess you still have to search for the games you want to add, but it’s not as bad a system as I first thought.

@caiol92 It would allow use of the height channels of my sound system

@caiol92 Sakai is correct here. There is a gap in Sony's audio support. You have stereo, 5.1, and 7.1. all providing "horizontal" audio. But then there's the new stuff like the PS5's Tempest audio, and Dolby Atmos, that in theory can provide more dimension to the sound, including height.

The issue is that PS5 doesn't support outputting Atmos audio:

"the PS5 does not support Dolby Vision gaming or Dolby Atmos. Instead, Sony’s console uses HDR10 when it comes to high dynamic range and its proprietary Tempest 3D audio tech for spatial audio."

So if you have an Atmos compatible setup, instead of the PS5 making the most of the extra speakers, you're forced to downmix everything to stereo, or use a headset. Or you stick with regular 7.1 output but you won't be getting the "full" effect even if your speakers support height channels.

That said, I'm not sure how the two compare in real use.

Not much interest in the social features but I guess the QOL improvements are ok, is gonna be a pain to update every controller as I'm going to be resuming my gaming session later on, couldn't come at a worse time, notable feature is transfering your data to another console, something that should have been included from the start, and wirelessly updating the controllers, is that based on Bluetooth or the internet by any chance? I will still use a usb cable regardless if it's internet as my connection is not great

@jrt87 "But PS5 has ads on the homescreen too?"

Not really. The PS5 is about the same as the PS4 in this regard. Very, very rarely there will be an advertisement in the form of a game icon; which you can select and delete and then it will be gone until the next one shows up (a few months later).

@caiol92 if you have a 5.1 system with a newer a/v reciever connected via hdmi, you should use Linear PCM. This is uncompressed audio. The console handles the audio processing and hands off a raw audio signal to your surround sound system. Dolby and dts are both compressed audio formats

@caiol92 You can actually get lossless audio out of the PS5 using the "Linear PCM" output. This is what I use with my LG Atmos setup (PS5 -> TV -> AV receiver).

The critical thing with this though is lossless surround requires HDMI 2.1, and you need to enable eARC on the reciever if going through the TV. You also need to ensure your TV isn't compressing or modifying the audio on passthrough.

You then need to actually check you're getting surround signals out, because the PS5 can't tell if the audio you're hearing at the end of the chain has lost any information. e.g. Launch a game you know supports it, then spin around to see if you can hear someone speaking behind you

Edit: hah, @sakai basically already said the same thing while I was posting!

@koffing so this does not supports 1440p VRR over HDMI 2.0? I was so excited for this feature and would have been the first thing I tried once I reached home today

I've been in the beta for this update for a while. One thing I noticed that isn't listed in the patch notes is the new platinum trophy animation. Be sure to pay attention to the notification next time you get a platinum!

@seifs great minds think alike buddy

I just want folders in the main screen, please give me folders sony! I need it on ps5 launch.

Also it's nice that now gamelist can sort order, the inability of gamelist to sort order is baffling to me.

i didnt see button to screen share ps5 to discord...yet.

i hope they add it soon.
i wanna play game with my friends in discord watching.

@Amnesiac
That's how I have it now, but I still find it cumbersome. Especially when there is both a PS4 and PS5 version of the game. Or a PSVR1 and PSVR2 version of the game.
What happens next is when you select a game in a custom game library you created, it will first show both versions and ask you which version you want to play, even though only one version is installed and the other needs to be downloaded.
So you select the correct and and it will take you to the game page where you have to do another button press to start the game. These are extra steps that I like to avoid.

I got around this somewhat by going through every multiplatform game that I own in my library, then select the version that I don't want to see and hide it in my library. However, after doing this you still need to remove the multiplatform game from your custom library and then add it again, otherwise it will continue to show the multiple versions of said game. Once you've done this it will take you straight to the correct game's version start page where you can boot up the game.

So each time i buy a new game I have to repeat all these steps to have my library in order. And each time I delete a game I have to manually throw them out of the game library as well, otherwise they'll just stay in there even though the game is not installed.

"Speaking of which, as of this PS5 update, you'll be able to update your controllers' software wirelessly. "

Halle-freakin-lujah! It only took a little over 2 years for the PS5 to catch up to basic WiiU functionality. Minus working folders and a useful home screen. Moving up in the world! Nintendo's 2017 tablet no longer has superior technology!

Not thrilled to have to do one more set of wired updates, but at least it'll be the last, and at least i don't have to update the VR controllers separately. Why wasn't this in the box at launch, I'll never know.

"You can decide the default sort order for games within gamelists."

You'd think they'd have introduced this with lists....I ran into this with my PSVR2 list, that I couldn't sort it, it's just whatever order I added the games in, forever. It's still not great, I'm still awaiting greatness, but this is less bad.

You'd think they'd have a patch that allows you to press and hold PS to access the power menu if only by option, though, like every other device ever.

@vikramsingh VRR doesn't exist at all over HDMI 2.0, it was added as part of the 2.1 spec. FreeSync/GFNow exists in 2.0, but not VRR. XB supports Freesync, PS never has.

@koffing Virtually no one does, the first HDMI 2.1 monitor didn't even exist unilt 2021, and it was some kickstarter thing. Basically only new moniotors purchased in the past 1.5 years support it.

@sanderson72 "First thing to change is the 'music
themes, even the standard one.

PS4 UI still blows the PS5 one out of the water - why didn't Sony just build on what they already had?"

I have hated that music since day one, I'm glad someone else said it. I it's the most foreboding, depressing sounding thing. I try to quickly skip to game tiles that play any other music. It just puts you in a very down mood every time you hear it.

Sadly just check the conversation on PXB of people complaining that MS iterated on the UI and should have created an all new one like PS5 did, it doesn't feel new enough. People don't like slow iteration, they just like new for the sake of new because new = good and old = bad. IDK why, but that seems to be the word of the masses. So every console just needs a new random UI to please everyone. It can be worse, it just needs to be new for the sake of being new.

@NEStalgia Thanks for setting my expectations straight This clears things.

"We made the following improvement in game library:
You can decide the default sort order for games within gamelists."

Does this just happen? Like when you sort it one way it stays that way? Cause I go into my gamelists now and the only thing I can do is add games to it. Is this not for my custom gamelists?

Very confused on this one.

@NEStalgia "Not thrilled to have to do one more set of wired updates, but at least it'll be the last"

You won't have to do one more set of wired updates. The first controller update with the new firmware can be done wirelessly.

But does it fix my right VR controller not working in a bunch of games? Maybe fix that before supporting Pc crowd with 1440 crap.

@bpomber Ohh! That's nice if so, I took it as this update being needed for supporting it since they mentioned Edge and VR Sense already support it.

Not much here I care about to be honest. Gimme folders and bring back the What's New section.

That’s a lot of stuff.

1. How about fixing it so that whenever I have a PS4 disc inserted to play the PS5 upgraded version of a game, it doesn't always try to install the PS4 version as well?

2. Also to be able to add games to a gamelist from the Installed list as well as just the (huge) main library.

@AdamNovice Glad it was a simple fix, I was a little worried there. Apparently the wireless updates aren't quite "there" yet.

@caiol92
Raw bitrate isn't really a great indication of the quality of the audio. There are loads of factors to take into account especially with the older PS3/PS4 audio setups, and the limitations at the time.

LPCM bitrate is very simple to calculate, Bit depth * sample rate * number of channels. So an average stereo channel is around 1.4/1.5mbps in most cases.

If the PS3/PS4 was actually outputting 5.1 channels on LPCM at normal sample rates it must be pushing at least like ~4.5-7Mbps. So something else must've been going on

Decent update. Still wish I had activity feed back along with PS community. Discord integration is just meh. I dunno why I thought it was going to be something greater than it is when it was first announced lol.

I don't mind the discord thingy, but the VRR 1440p is what I welcome. Now some games using this can run better with VRR, I can notice it with Hogwarts legacy in balanced mode.

Update controllers wirelessly was a much needed feature, couldn't understand that even after linking the controllers to the PS5 you still had to find the cable and plug each one in separately just to update their firmware. Just a small niggle that's now been resolved. Also good to see the new PSV2 controllers also get an update, finally no more right controller straying all over the place with the tracking I hope.

Nothing in this really applies to me other than the wireless controller updates.

Bout dang time.

As for what they need to add, for the love of God proper home screen folders. I’ll admit that I didn’t use them much in the PS4 era because I typically bought games on discs and only had two or three games at a time.

But with a growing digital and physical library I really need a way to sort them properly.

Please bring the discord app features in like it. Works in Android or the PC app. Instead of call transfers and crap.

@Max_the_German How small of an area do you live in for that little beep to wake people up? I'd think button smashing would be worse.

@seifs What audio settings would you recommend on an atmos soundbar with passthrough ?? On xbox i was able to select atmos and then tick allow passthrough and atmos was picked up on soundbar.

@tselliot i was gonna ask the same thing but didnt have the balls lol

This is a really decent update. I think now that ps5s are now wildly available their wanting to do alot of work to the system interface. I must say the ps5 interface is clean and fast compared to the Xbox interface that is clunky and full of adds.

PSVR2controllers works fine now (hope it stays that way) + the graphics in HorizonVR is much crispier now. I love that you don't need to do the "replace all-box" when uploading saves to the PS cloud, Great we can check trophies under each title now and finally !! the PS5 tracks my gametime played again!!!
@LiamCroft - you can start using your PS5 again!

@tselliot You can try it by yourself: The startup beep is much more effective in wakening sleeping people than button smashing.

@Smiffy01 I use the following setup and it seems to be the best output I can get, with the lowest latency on the audio:

PS5 -> TV (hdmi 2.1 cable and port) -> LG sound system (hdmi 2.1 cable and port)
PS5 Settings:

• Output device: AV Amplifier
• Output channels: 7.1 ch
• Output format: Linear PCM
  Speaker position: default

Then on LG TV: eARC enabled for port the sound system is plugged into. All passthrough options enabled in sound settings. Bypass enabled on sound delay options. Format set to "Bitstream" rather than PCM. (Can't remember exactly which sections these are under, your TV may vary, or may not have these options)

Then on my LG sound system I just verify that it's connected via eARC, and that I get sound out of the rear channels in PCM format

As I said in the other replies, you can't get atmos output because Sony use Tempest instead. If they eventually implement "3D audio for AV Amplifiers", you should consider enabling this.

I will mention here though, I don't seem to be able to get surround sound audio out of media apps when I use linear PCM. For example "surround sound test" videos on youtube will only output stereo unless I set the output format to dolby. Which is super annoying. I'm not sure why the PS5/app isn't capable of converting compressed channels to linear PCM. If you want to watch stuff on the PS5 just test this to see how it goes, and consider using your TV native apps instead, or something else.

@seifs Thanks for that bud, appreciated.

The PS5 update (23.01-07.00.00) bricked my GoW:R (CFI-1216A) PS5. It has had to go back to PlayStation after just 5 months. Error code: SU-101312-8

Seeing way more issues with PS4 consoles that updated (10.50) though... https://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/11ltaq7/ps4_firmware_update_1050_released_with_some/?sort=new

@Max_the_German I do it every night almost. My wife hasn't killed me yet...

@KidBoruto Yeah that's a big one for me. I bought a lot... Like, a lot a lot.... Of vr2 games and I like just playing a variety of them each session.... It's not fun scrolling to the end then down then hitting r1 then down, then x to open my vr folder every time I switch. And if I hit circle I have to do it again!

Actually, scratch that, there's one other big ask:. Maybe it's vr2 specific... But putting the volume control on the vr panel or anywhere else... I have the Edge and it has a shortcut on it, but that doesn't help when using vr sense!.

@KidBoruto Seems to be going something like this:
Users: We'd like folders and themes back please, just like the PS4 could!
New Sony: No, our new user interface is so much cleaner
Users: It really isn't, so, folders and themes please?
New Sony: No

@KidBoruto my Xbox is like a games juke box. I was well behaved with PS5 since it was for the exclusives, but then vr landed and I now have a big white vr juke box and my vr2 folder alone has life 37 games plus hfw and gow and all still on there 😂. And I actually switch between multiple different ones a session!

Screen reader in the web browser? Did PS5 get access to a web browser like the PS3 & 4 does? That is one click on a browser icon to open. Probably not, and probably never like themes, folders, and a ui like the PS4 has.

@KidBoruto nah, seems common here, though I think it's a hold over from the physical media world. I used to do it that way, then when I went digital I went full kid in candy store and started swapping around to everything! I started hzd in 2017...... Finally beat it last month lol. How started 2018..... I'm sure I'll finish it ... Someday ...

@KidBoruto 😂. I can stop anytime I want! I just don't want to!