The Xbox PC App Is Getting Up to 60% Faster, Starting With Insiders

Okay, good: the Xbox PC app is getting faster. What it really needs, though, is a redesign. It’s been a rough app to live with, especially the full screen experience. That’s supposed to work with just a controller, and in my experience, on my original ROG Ally and on a regular Windows PC, it still doesn’t: you end up reaching for a keyboard. Being Microsoft, I expect this to take time, but it’s good to see it heading somewhere.

Here’s what Microsoft actually announced on November 5, who can try it, and what it does and doesn’t fix.

How much faster is the new Xbox PC app?

Up to 60% faster to launch, by Microsoft’s count. In its Xbox Wire post, Jason Beaumont, Xbox’s VP of Experiences, says pages like Home, Store and Game Pass load up to 50% faster and windows inside the app open up to 65% faster. Those are “up to” numbers from Microsoft’s own testing, and a footnote says results vary by device, connection and setup. Microsoft doesn’t say what hardware it tested on or what it measured against.

What else changes in the update?

The library and the menus. Microsoft says the library gets simpler navigation, new filters and more ways to organise your games. Friends and social features move into the main menu, so you can see what friends are playing or join a party without digging. Search now covers games, including the ones you’ve installed, add-ons and people from one box, and game cards, Home and Settings get a visual refresh.

When can you get it?

Right now only if you’re an Xbox Insider, Microsoft’s free testing programme. Microsoft hasn’t given a date for everyone else. Its post says “There’s more to do, and your feedback will continue to shape what comes next.”

What is Xbox mode, and why does a faster app matter there?

Xbox mode is the controller-first screen Windows can boot into instead of the desktop, and the Xbox app is usually its home screen. It started as the full screen experience on the ROG Xbox Ally in October 2025, and on April 30, 2026 Microsoft began rolling it out to Windows 11 PCs in general, in stages and in select markets. Microsoft’s support page calls it “a controller-optimized way to navigate and play on Windows.”

That’s why the speed matters. On a handheld or a PC on the TV, the Xbox app isn’t something you open now and then; it’s what you look at every time you pick the thing up. Windows Central, which tried an early build of the new app in October, reported that it fixes a laggy, sticky selection on the ROG Xbox Ally, though Microsoft’s own post doesn’t mention that.

Can you use Xbox mode with just a controller?

For the basics, yes. For everything, no. Reviewers found that booting into Xbox mode, browsing your library and launching games works on the controller. The trouble starts at the edges. When the ROG Xbox Ally launched in October 2025, ASUS’s own guide said you may need the touch screen for Battle.net’s installer, and used touch to buy and download games in Steam. Tom’s Hardware found the Epic and CD Projekt launchers needed touch, with no mouse control, and that Windows’ permission prompts still pop up. Can I Play That found the first-time setup is the standard Windows 11 one.

Microsoft has been chipping away at it. It fixed the on-screen keyboard not appearing for controller users on PCs without a touch screen in a December 2025 Insider build, and October’s Insider builds added Exit to Desktop, power options and quick settings to Xbox mode’s menu, so fewer trips to the desktop. Most of the hands-on reports above are from late 2025, though, before those changes.

Does it make downloads faster?

Microsoft doesn’t say so. Slow downloads are a common complaint about the Xbox app, and they fill Google’s suggestions for “xbox app slow”, but the November 5 post only talks about the app launching and loading pages faster, so don’t expect it to fix your download speed.

Is Microsoft redesigning the Xbox app?

Partly, if the reports are right. Windows Central reported in October that the rebuilt app is codenamed Garrison and, citing unnamed sources, that more features were planned before it goes live. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has also said internally that Xbox needs to “fix the fundamentals on console and PC,” as The Verge reported in May from an internal town hall. Microsoft hasn’t published a roadmap for the app or for Xbox mode.

Who is it for?

Anyone who games on a Windows handheld or a PC on the TV and spends time in the Xbox app, and is happy to join the Insider programme to try it early. If you mostly launch games from Steam on the desktop, it’ll matter less. And if you were hoping for a full controller-first redesign, this isn’t it yet.