The entirety of PlayStation 4's 5.50 system software update shouldn't be a surprise to most. Sony began recruiting beta testers as early as mid-January, and the actual details (or the biggest reveals) began leaking on Reddit a few days ago. And as expected, this update is one of the most substantial in the system's lifespan -- adding parental control features, much requested UI changes, supersampling, and much more.

News comes by way of the PlayStation Blog that unveiled the beta's launch earlier today. Arguably the biggest overhauls added by System Software Update 5.50 are the changes made to the PS4's UI. Seen in the image below, the Library will now be divided into "This PS4" and your PSN ID -- this way, content is more easily divided and navigatable for those with a growing digital collection. Under the PSN ID, there is a new "PlayStation Plus" option that will segregate your monthly free games from ones you have already purchased.

Though making the purchase screens more navigatable is an obvious benefit, even better for most is the ability to remove apps altogether. Players will now be able to elect not to show a purchased game in their Purchased folder -- a much-requested feature so people can clear out alphas, betas, server tests, and demos that they no longer need.

The purchase section isn't the only spot to get an overhaul -- also included in PS4's System Software Update 5.50 are a healthy dose of "Quick Menu Enhancements." Now players can view their friends (and who is already online) in the Quick Menu. On top of that, pressing the "square" button will let you change up volume controls for both Spotify and PlayStation Music. As an added benefit, gamers can hit the "triangle" button to play and pause music entirely for the Media Player.

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But the audio benefits don't end there. The development team also added the option for you to play background music when playing games on PS Now. Please note, that option isn't going to be available for every game, but it will be around for some of them.

Outside of those visual and organizational enhancements, some entirely new features have been added to the roster. As we previously reported, this includes a custom Tournaments team page that can be found in the Events sections, as well as Supersampling for everyone with a PS4 Pro and no 4K TV.

However, two new additions not detailed in our previous reporting are the new parental control settings and the ability to import custom wallpapers via USB images. What the latter includes is obvious, but the new parental settings let parents limit how much child accounts can play for day. For instance, if you've got a grounded kid, you can make sure they are only getting 30 minutes of PS4 gaming per-day. All the while, notifications will be sent to the child accounts during play so they know when to save and quit.

So while it is no PSN ID name change, the PS4 System Software Update 5.50 is quite substantial for anyone who owns a PS4 or PS4 Pro. As mentioned above, PS4 owners can download the update immediately if they have signed up for the beta. There is still no official news on when this will get a public release, but we will keep you updated with any new information.


Update: Noted that it is the beta of the update available now.