New Features Coming to PS4 in System Software 5.50

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New Features Coming to PS4 in System Software 5.50

Play Time Management, custom wallpapers via USB, enhancements to notifications and the Quick Menu, and more.

Update: PS4 System Software Update 5.50 is now available! Update your PS4 system to enjoy the features outlined below.


The beta for the PlayStation 4 system’s next major system software update 5.50 (codenamed KEIJI) rolls out today. If you signed up and were selected for the beta program, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to download and get started.

Even if you are not in the beta program, we wanted to give you a sneak preview of features you can expect in this update. In 5.50, we’re introducing Play Time Management, Library UI updates, further enhancements to the Quick Menu, and much more.

Play Time Management

We’re introducing Play Time Management, which will allow family managers (and adult family members who are set as guardians) to manage PS4 playtime for child family members on family on PSN. Managing Playtime is easy; go to Settings > Family Management on your PS4, or log into your PlayStation account on your web browser from your PC or smartphone, to check and manage your child’s playtime each day. If needed, the family manager/guardians can apply playtime restrictions to make sure that the child is only playing for a set amount of time or within set playable hours. Notifications on PS4 will be sent to the child during gameplay so that he or she knows when they should save and quit. The family managers/guardians also have the option to add extra game time via their smartphone or PC. In addition, the family manager/guardians can choose whether or not to automatically log the child out of their PS4 once their playtime is over.

PS4 System Software Update 5.50: Play Time ManagmentPS4 System Software Update 5.50: Play Time Managment

PS4 System Software Update 5.50: Play Time Managment

Library UI Updates

‘This PS4’ and Name/Avatar tab

Two new tabs are being added to Library to make it easier for you to see which apps you’ve installed and purchased. The ‘This PS4’ tab lists all the applications that are installed on the PS4 system, and the tab with your name/avatar lists all the apps that you purchased with your PSN ID. This feature also makes it easy to search and find games you’ve already purchased but have not yet installed.

PS4 System Software Update 5.50: Library

PS Plus tab

This update also adds a new PS Plus tab to the Library, which clarifies what games you own from PS Plus’ Monthly Free Games. If your PS Plus membership is expired, a PS Plus icon with a lock will appear next to your game so you’ll know you cannot play the game until you’ve re-subscribed.

PS4 System Software Update 5.50: LibraryPS4 System Software Update 5.50

Hide apps

We’re adding a function that will allow you to hide certain applications under the ‘Purchased’ tab in the Library. In ‘Options,’ you can hide content including betas, trials or demos of games that you probably won’t be going back to.

PS4 System Software Update 5.50: Library

Quick Menu Enhancements

If you ever want to quickly access specific friends in your custom list, you’ll be able to do so via the pulldown menu under the Friends tab in Quick Menu. You can also see who’s currently online.

Whenever you’re listening to music on PS4, you’ll be able to access certain shortcuts from the Quick Menu. If you’re using Spotify on PlayStation Music, the ‘square’ button will serve as the shortcut for volume control. And when you’re on the Media Player or the USB Music Player, ‘triangle’ will work as the shortcut for play or pause, and the ‘square’ button as the volume control.

PS4 System Software Update 5.50: Quick Menu - Music shortcut

Background Music on PS Now

With Background Music on PlayStation Now, you’ll be able to listen to your favorite tracks while streaming a game on PS Now. Just keep in mind that, similar to when playing a game locally on PS4, background music may not always be available.

Notifications Update

This update will give you the ability to delete old notifications for better organization and management. Just go to Notifications and press the ‘triangle’ or ‘Options’ button to open up a menu that will allow you to select a single or multiple notifications you’d like to delete.

PS4 System Software Update 5.50: Notifications

Import Custom Wallpapers via USB

Love customizing your PS4 Home Screen? Well, this new update will give you even more options. You can import your own images to PS4 from a USB stick and set it as your wallpaper. You can also zoom and crop your images so they look perfect on your dashboard. Just go to Settings > Themes > Select Theme > Custom > Select Image > USB Storage Device.

Customize Tournaments Team Pages

Following the 5.50 update, you’ll be able to customize your Tournaments team page with your own team logo or background that you can import from a USB stick. Represent your team by customizing your team page with something unique and original! To set your logo and background, head over to Events > Teams > select your team > Edit Team Profile.

Supersampling Mode on PS4 Pro

PS4 Pro users will see a new ‘supersampling mode’ under Settings, which enables those with HDTVs (i.e., 1080p or less) to enjoy an enhanced visual experience when playing some PS4 games. With supersampling mode, games that render to a higher resolution when connected to a 4K TV will downscale to match the HDTV – allowing PS4 Pro owners to leverage the benefits of an image clarity boost even if they don’t own a 4K TV. Certain games already have ‘supersampling’ benefits as part of their ‘PS4 Pro Enhanced’ feature set, but this new mode can enhance the experience for those games that don’t already have the feature. Because PS4 Pro’s added power and modes benefit different games in different ways, please note that certain games’ image clarity may not improve with this new feature.

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308 Comments

  • When will we be able to share videos with our friends on ps4 via message?

    • Would like to have something like that specially since I record a lot of videos.Would be cool if Sony allowed short videos.Doubt they can allow long ones anyway.

  • Man, I really wanna play Dark Castle and Combat Plane 2 right now, those games look amazing.

  • Impressed with the new beta system software update organization and everything else is working well so far. Would love to see some support for classic PS1 games and more PS2 classics.

  • When will we be able to change our PSN ID. Many people have requested it. At least give us a date.

  • I would like a feature that would shuffle one of my 20 or so bought wallpapers every time I turn on my PS4. Something fresh wjen i log in. And makes my paid wallpapers more valuable.

  • Make to were people in your party chat can have individual voice volume because sometimes People are just too loud in there voice overlaps the game play audio in when you turn the volume down on your headset it takes everything down and he makes it worse so if people had individual voice volume then it would solve many problems

    • Hmmm

      How about just having a general volume/mute function for the PS4 that works with ALL games, not just party/voice chat? Now THAT would solve many problems.

  • If time is already tracked in order to enforce limits, I’d like to tap into that information to know what my play time statistics are: like total time spent using each application as well as aggregated totals for day/week/month/etc. That kind of thing would be nice for me.

    • Oh! and sync with PSN to make it available over the internet, via web and the PS smartphone/tablet app!

    • Yes indeed! This should’ve been there long time ago.

    • THIS… Agreed.. it would be nice to see the played hours of my games and apps. I know Nintendo has done this in the past. I wouldn’t mind seeing this within the PlayStation. I give a +1 to you steeler192. And I hope they see this and integrate it in.

    • Nice one,been seeing people ask for this for quite a time now…since the last update I guess so I believe it’s coming soon.Although its a shame that it won’t get the hours we already spent playing,this should’ve been a feature on PS4 since the beginning…on PS3 and Vita too.Damn I would love to know how many hours I spent playing on PS3,Vita and PS4 combined.

  • Add playtime stats and give us an option to save the photos and music onto the ps4’s hdd!

  • Im love all new features :)

  • First PS4 update I’m actually excited about. So many features I’ve been dying to have. Can’t wait!!!

  • Is there a list of games do support Supersampling Mode on PS4 Pro? Also, I have PS4 and PS4 pro in my house, is there anyway to change how many systems can use PS vue in the house as long as there on the same network or something?

  • All I want, literally ALL I want, is a PSN ID change option. I wouldn’t care if it were $20, I’d pay for it.

  • That’s just great – BUT – when are they going to fix the issue of dropped signal on the PS4 Pro to 4K TVs. The thing has been out over a year and it still constantly drops signal. Grrrrrrr…..

  • What about game play capture on the PS NOW, That will be awesome!!!!

  • Wow all these updates and we still cannot change our gamer tag name plz ps do something about it

  • Bot time! We need more crap!

  • Tournaments are very under-utilized. 99% of people don’t even know there is a tournament option. Please put “tournaments” under the “communities” settings so more people can see it and know of it. I tried looking for a tournament yesterday, and there were only 3. I have COD, Overwatch, Battlefield, Rainbow 6 and other popular games yet saw not one tourney for them. Because people need to be made more aware that tournaments are even an option.

  • Will the update by chance fix the part where the PlayStation store crashes the console constantly?

  • You should be able to open up ypur library to friends and game share instead of doing it the way it is now because that’s too complicated

  • This has nothing to do with any of this but when the hell is FF7 remake gunna hit the world

  • I want an update where you don’t have to install games from a disk. Whenever I buy a game I want to put the disk in and play not wait 30 minutes for it to install. Some of these games are huge and take up a lot of space. You end up having to delete a game to install a new one. I have an 1 TB external drive and have had to do this on a few occasions. Can be somewhat frustrating.

  • Speaking of Plus subscriptions and betas, I’ve long dealt with discovering this irritating situation where, if my Plus subscription lapsed, purchasing demos of PS4 and certain PS Vita games I had “for free” would subsequently invalidate my “ownership” of the full games (even PS3 versions, via Cross-Buy!) when resubscribed. In the meantime of my last lapse, I’ve outright purchased a number of those titles, but some are simply not available in the PS Store anymore, such as ‘Smart As…’. The real perplexing bit is that in the Services list, it still notes when I purchased these titles as Plus freebies, and dates my effective use dates, yet the Store and my system(s) still act as if I never even had such access.

    • Access Denied
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      Reference #18.8da3db17.1518066999.5dc6c01

      …fun!

  • just started playing ps4 a few weeks ago and I was suspended on grand turismo I don’t know why I hardly played I asked sony they didn’t know either there must be better ways to get info on things like this

  • allows bluetooth wireless headphones connection like ps3

  • Will afterbirth+ be coming to ps4?

  • What about adding our own music? If we can add our own pics, why not our own music?

  • Thank you for the update. My one request would be the ability to switch themes randomly.

  • Being able to play music on PS Now is HUGE for me!!! This makes me very happy and i’m now more likely to continue my PS Now subscription.

  • On the tv/video streaming allow us to rearranged our apps and add favorites to top row. So tired of vudu moving around because you want us to subscribe to hbo on PS4. Also add the ability to use game audio & chat through headphones and through hdmi at the same time.

  • Since XB1 does its own emulation of the XB360, it seems kind of greedy to charge for the PS3 emulation. PS Now should let you run owned games for free. At the very least, you should be able to run PS+ games for free since you are essentially subscribing in order to keep it usable anyway. With the cost of consoles, it isn’t reasonable to expect every older user to keep their old console. Most of us sold the PS3 to buy a PS4.

  • Best update very fun new features thank you大いに感謝する :)

  • Can you guys add “change username” that’s literally all I want and also the party limit

  • I recently downloaded and installed the beta and it feels nice.. I have no issues with any of my games. The ui is much more cleaner in my opinion. Organization seems somewhat unnecessary but looks good at the same time. As I am using the PS4 Slim 500GB model, I do not know how well the extra features for the pro work. All in all I am happy with the Beta firmware at this time.

  • I don’t know if it has anything to do with the Beta update, but since I installed, I’ve been having issues using PLEX – it’ll play something for 2-5 seconds, then buffer, rinse and repeat. I tried using PLEX on other devices and it works fine.

    anyone else having issues like this?

  • STILL no Farsi/Persian Language!! thanks sony

    you really care about persian users !!!

  • Tried to get it to install twice and both times my system locks up… Looking forward to actually seeing and exploring it

  • Sign me up I would love to try out the new PS4 update plz

  • Why do I have to pay for my console to be fixed since your last update shelved my ps4? The 5.05. I need for you to reimburse me for a new one or the one I have to be fixed free of charge!

  • I have found the first issue I’ve had since downloading the beta when I did a video trim then post using the quick menu it’s came back to saying I didn’t have a disc inserted had to restart the game did not have to remove the disk for it to fix not sure if this is has to do with the beta or the share function but I’ve never had a problem with the sheriff’s auction yet and I’ve been using it extensively recently

  • When the new software update will be available?

  • Nothing really useful but guess thats expected.Already got used to all the horrid changes of the past so I don’t even want things back but guess the old organized notifications would be welcome instead of the messy one we have currently.I’ll be prepared for yet more poor changes that you guys won’t mention here as always.Lemme know when video recording is finally fixed to not skip certain parts of the video.

    Also y’all with the ID change request know how to be annoying…like some have said its your fault for not thinking carefully about a name you would use well…forever.Learn to live with your mistakes,if Sony allow ID change I hope they charge a lot for it.

  • I need a data for lauch and need change my id please

  • Making sound able to be sent to headset and TV simultaneously is what we need. Such a pain to stream!

  • Can we change our psn gamertags?

  • Sony’s ps4 anti-family activation policy remains unchanged. My kids still can NOT play each other on our two ps4s like we could with our ps3s. Sony wants you to by multiple ps4s, multiple copies of each game and multiple TVs for every member in your family.

  • Add the ability to stream Sirius XM while playing games!

  • This is my 4th beta that I tested so far I had no issues all of the features work great I’m so fortunate to be able to participate in every beta there was since the first one with 4.00 thank you Sony for continuing to select me as a beta tester I really enjoy it

  • At least twice now, I’ve had to shut down my PS4 (hard boot) because it wouldn’t recover from Rest mode.

    And, can you add an option to turn the game volume down so it can’t overpower Spotify?

  • Please we want name changing guys come on we been wanting this since ps3

  • Yes we want the ability to change our gamer ID

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