Remember Snap Mode? This was a feature back in the early Xbox One generation that allowed you to snap an application or TV to the side of your game, so you could play while watching something in the background.
It was part of the major push towards TV oriented features when the Xbox One launched in 2013, and while it did prove popular, it was a little bit clunky to say the least. In 2017, Xbox's Mike Ybarra confirmed that the feature was ultimately being removed with the latest dashboard update for the Xbox One.
In the long run, there wasn't too much of an outcry following its removal, but the feature definitely still has its fans in 2021, and we admit the ability to watch television while playing games felt like a luxury eight years ago, and could have been a really good feature had it been a little smoother and more customisable in its operation.
There are definitely multiple schools of thought in regards to Snap Mode though, and so we're interested to know how you felt about the feature. Did you enjoy it? Was it something you used very often? And if you didn't get a chance to try it, is it something you would have liked in the Xbox Series X & S generation? Let us know below.
What are your thoughts on Snap Mode? Give us your verdict down in the poll and comments!
Comments 18
I would be fine with it as long as it does not compromise games running smooth framerates. I will take 60fps over snap mode.
I never had an Xbox One when Snap Mode was a thing, but I was just thinking about it last night and how cool it would be to have it make a comeback. I'd like to be able to have Netflix or Disney+ or something up while I'm doing a Slay the Spire run, for example.
I loved being able to Skype while playing. It was a pretty sweet feature.
It would've helped to have it so I could watch YouTube whilst catching all those ruby splashtails for that gold figurehead in Sea of Thieves instead of looking to my left on my tablet. Figurehead was worth it though.
I actually really liked most of the Xbox One features — Snap, Kinect voice control, HDMI passthrough, OneGuide. They were great ideas, just poorly executed.
I know I am an outlier here, but I play my Xbox through one of 3 computer monitors and the other two are my "snap" screens. Do I want int back? No.
If they can bring it back without compromising games since other people want it back, I wouldn't be against it.
Imagine being able to watch Disney + and then "Snap" Netflix or Hulu at the same time! Oh the possibilities...
I voted no because I thought what’s the point without HDMI pass through but I forgot about the streaming apps. Although it would be better to just have an iPad next to you.
If it wasn't a resource hog and didn't affect performance in any way then I would love it back, it was a feature that made Xbox unique in the console space.
I really Iiked having MLB or Twitch snapped during single play sessions. That said...it isn't anything I would trade performance for.
Never once used it, don't miss it and doubt I'd use it if it came back...
I liked it and don't understand why it was removed. Maybe because apps like Youtube would never allow it as "background play" is considered a Premium feature now.
The Xbox One had so many great features ar launch that have since been discontinued but gone onto greater things. Sony added snap to the PS5 and the latest iPad Pro does that thing Skype on Kinect did where it zooms in and follows you around the room.
Snap was one of my favorite features for watching the game while playing. We were promised a PiP feature to replace it and that never came.
@Marvel_Ham I believe it was removed due to the Xbox One launch version needing more of the OS RAM allocation. 900P at 30fps was a bad look.
I'm probably in the minority but I think the Xbox OS has gotten worse, especially the advertising tiles.
Back on topic, I really liked snap mode, I found it useful when following a guide or just keeping an eye on the news while I played. I missed it when it was removed, but admit that I'd forgotten about it until this article.
I liked Snap and used it a lot, but only want it to return if they are careful with any potential performance impact. The Series X|S CPU shouldn't have any problem with it really.
@Marvel_Ham Only benign and benevolent Google who gives everyone everything for free could manage to think of a way to monetize running something in a window as a premium feature like we're still running DOS.
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