Sony has already spilled the beans on its next-generation console PlayStation 5. Sony has revealed the first tidbits of information for its next-generation console–most likely named PlayStation 5 or Prospero, but that hasn’t been confirmed. Sony has already promised that the Sony Playstation 5(PS5) will support 8K graphics, 3D audio, super-fast SSDs, and backward compatibility with existing PlayStation 4 games. But before the next-gen consoles arrive, Sony has enough offering for the current PlayStation 4 as the company recently announced the update 7.0.0 for PS4 which brings a Party Feature and remote play to Android.
Here’s the full announcement, via the PlayStation Blog:
Party Feature Update:
For PlayStation 4 fans who love to play alongside their friends or other community members, the Party feature has been rebuilt to include new features and services including:
- Maximum number of Party users increased from 8 to 16.
- Network connectivity improved.
- Audio quality improved.
- Accessibility support with Chat Transcription has been added (United States-only).
Within the Party feature, you will experience better network connectivity and audio quality. The improved back-end now improves network connectivity and allows users to overcome connectivity issues previously experienced when connecting with other users.
Lastly, the Party App will also offer a new Chat Transcription feature for United States users via the PlayStation 4 Second Screen App on your smartphone or other mobile devices. The new feature supports United States English and converts party voice chat to text, or enables you to enter text that is read aloud to other party members. If using your mobile device to connect to your PlayStation 4 during a Party, you will now see a new Party tab has been added where the new functionality is available.
Remote Play:
For those who want to stream select PlayStation 4 games on mobile devices, Remote Play can now be used on smartphones and tablets running Android 5.0 or higher. Just download the PlayStation 4 Remote Play App from the Google Play store to use the feature.
Meanwhile, for iPhone or iPad users, the Remote Play App has been updated so you can now display the controller at all times and lock the screen orientation.
Also, players will be able to use their DualShock 4 wireless controllers via Bluetooth for Remote Play on an Android, iPhone, iPad, and Mac. All you need to do is update to Android 10, iOS 13, iPadOS 13, or macOS Catalina (releasing in October) to use this feature.
As a reminder, a PlayStation 4 system with a wired connection via a LAN cable is recommended.
However, no exact date has been announced yet but we can expect the update to arrive anytime this week.