PlayStation 4 firmware update coming this week with updated party features and more

Although the launch of the PlayStation 5 console is getting near, Sony continues to provide excellent software support to the PlayStation 4 hardware currently in the wild (PlayStation 4 Slim on sale now at Amazon). The latest software update for it, version 7.00, is scheduled to drop later this week with quite a few new features, improvements, and fixes.

Without further ado, here is a quick roundup of all the good things that will become available later this week for PlayStation 4 users all around the world:

• Party feature updates — the maximum number of users increased from 8 to 16, network connectivity improvements, audio quality enhancements, and accessibility support with Chat Transcription (US only, unfortunately).
• Remote Play now available on handsets and tablets running Android 5.0 Lollipop or higher (the PS4 Remote Play app should be downloaded from Google Play to use this capability).
• The PS4 Remote Play app for iPhone and iPad now allows its users to display the controller at all times and lock the screen orientation.
• DualShock 4 wireless controllers can be used via Bluetooth for Remote Play on Android, Macs, and iPhone/iPad devices. The hardware needs to run Android 10, iOS 13, iPadOS 13, or macOS Catalina.

In addition to all the above, PlayStation 4 users should also get ready to take advantage of the upcoming system-level HDR tuning capabilities. This feature was demoed in a beta firmware release that became available back in late June, but since Sony apparently forgot to mention it in the meantime, it might just have been delayed.