Xbox’s June update adds speech-to-text chat feature

Xbox’s June update is here, and Microsoft has detailed the latest software tweaks Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S users can look forward to trying out on their consoles. To start, the company has officially implemented the speech transcription and text-to-speech synthesis tools it started testing with Xbox Insiders back in May. Now that they’re part of the Xbox operating system, you can find both features in the “ease of access” setting tab under the “game and chat transcription.” With speech-to-text transcription, your Xbox will transcribe and display what your party says on an adjustable overlay. With text-to-speech, meanwhile, a synthetic voice will read anything you type into party chat.

“At Team Xbox, we believe gaming should be inclusive, approachable, and accessible to everyone,” the company said. “That includes making it easy for gamers to play and communicate together.”

Parents, meanwhile, will find that they have more control over who their kids can play with online. If your little one has an Xbox child account, they’ll have the option to ask you for your permission to play cross-platform games like Minecraft with people who play it on other online gaming services. You can approve or decline these requests either through the Xbox Family Settings app or the console itself. Microsoft has also tweaked the Xbox’s Groups feature, which allows you to create lists of your favorite games and apps. You can now reorder your groups as you see fit.

Outside of those tweaks, Microsoft has updated the Xbox app on Android and iOS to add a Stories-like feature. Over the next month, you’ll start to see official posts from your favorite games. As with Instagram, you can like, share and comment on them.