Did you know that the Microsoft Xbox One Home screen is always ready for reconfiguration, to rearrange games and apps, and make them easy to access?
Over time, as Xbox users accumulate games, apps, and other things on the entertainment console screen, the resulting clutter makes an unsightly mess. The entire panel is so chaotic that launching anything could prove laborious. Good thing the Xbox One has a helpful feature called "Pinning."
To pin is to make shortcuts to one's favorite games or apps on the Xbox One Home screen. It's like having an icon on the desktop PC for the purpose of easy access when needed.
Hence, creating a pin on the screen will give a quick link on user's preferred Xbox functions, features, and contents. Apparently, doing so is quite easy.
Taking Control Of The Home Screen
To commence the pinning mission, users need only to tap the Xbox key to get to the Home screen. Another way is to do it hands-free or by ordering the console to pull up the Home screen. This will happen by reciting "Xbox, go Home." The screen panel is then ready to work on.
Create a pin by searching for a favorite game, app, or any other item and then highlight the tile. The next thing to do is press the Menu button on the Xbox controller. For some users, this same button is referred to as the "Hamburger Key."
A drop-down menu will pop up and on it, click "Pin to Home," and a pin for a selected game or app will be generated on the Home screen. To create more pins, simply repeat the process.
More Home Screen Editing
Now, it would be a good idea to adjust the pinned items, which, by the way, will be located on a second Home screen on the Xbox One to one's preferences. The idea is not only to apply personal touch but also to achieve optimal pin placement, allowing for quick launch of games or apps.
To do this, users can opt to use the natively available tool called "Move to Front," but doing so will mean wasting lots of time. The better alternative is to install Xbox One SmartGlass Beta on the gaming console.
When paired with a Windows Phone, SmartGlass Beta will make pin editing on the Home screen like a walk in the park. The whole process will mostly involve dragging and dropping.
All said and done, the pinned games and apps are ready to use and waiting to be accessed in two ways. One is by pressing the Xbox button on the console controller, then by selecting the pin icon in the Xbox guide. The pins will appear on the screen, too, by heading to the dashboard and with the use of the left analog stick, scroll down until the pinned items start appearing.
