Xbox November Update has friend requests, new Home page on Xbox app, AI search, and more

Microsoft has announced brand-new updates that are hitting all ecosystems of the company's gaming wing. The November Xbox update is pushing many of the features that Insiders have been testing in recent months to the public, including the overhauled friends and followers system, a better search, and more.

Friend requests are a thing again. Xbox users now have to approve any invites they get, just like on any other platform, to be friends. The follow system still remains though, but as a one-way connection to see any content shared by the user being followed. Here's how you can use the new friends and followers system:

To manage your friends and followers on Xbox consoles, press the Xbox button to open the guide and go to the People tab. From there, you can view your friends list, accept or delete new friend requests, or search for someone new and send a friend request. You can always check your profile to see who you are following and who is following you.

Continuing the Xbox console front, Microsoft has added the ability to create custom profile gamerpics using game achievement art or screenshots. Moreover, when setting the home background on Xbox consoles, the image now has zoom and crop as customization options.

Over on Windows, the Xbox app has been given a brand-new Home experience that features the latest content added to Game Pass, Xbox deals, updates, and more into a single location. Find more details about that here.

Lastly, the search function on all Xbox platforms has received an upgrade according to Microsoft:

Whether you’re playing on your Xbox console or the Xbox app on Windows, the newly improved search will enhance accuracy, delivering more useful results to help you find your next game or related content faster – even when you’re not exactly sure what you’re looking for.

This AI-powered search is said to deliver enhanced accuracy, better results, and can even recognize phrases like “cozy farming games with fishing” or "FPS games with zombies" to deliver accurate results.