It's not often we learn something that we didn't know already about our Xbox consoles here at PX HQ, but browsing the platform's Reddit channel this morning, we've done exactly that. Basically, a user has shared a tip for instantly putting your console in 'idle' mode, and yep - we had no idea you could do this!
So, if you hold your Xbox button as if you're going to to turn the system off, then hit 'X' instead of one of the main options, you'll instantly go into idle mode.
As for what idle mode is, basically, it's what happens when you leave your console alone for a while, and you start to see those information 'blades' pop up over your dashboard - like the one in the image at the top of this article. This typically happens when your controller disconnects and the console assumes you're away for a while - but this little tip enables you to do it whenever you want.
Now, we know this is a minor feature all things considered, but it's still cool to learn something new about the console years after its launch. It may be limited in its usefulness, but this could be handy if you're leaving a game to download for a while or something like that. This guy thinks it's genius anyway!
We also quite like the console giving us random bits of information if we're busy about the house doing other things, so yeah, we might make use of this every now and then. Tell us down below if you'll do the same!
Is this the first time you've heard of this? Talk to us about this idle mode shortcut down in the comments.
Comments 12
I never understood idle mode.
If I'm going to be away long enough for it to idle, I turn the screen off. Reduced brightness is still needlessly burning electricity and aging the screen. Especially if you have OLED.
That said, wasn't this posted already?
https://www.purexbox.com/news/2020/04/did_you_know_you_can_manually_put_your_xbox_one_into_idle_mode
@InterceptorAlpha You know what? It's been almost five years, thousands of articles, and I'd totally forgotten that I wrote that.
Still, the website had only just relaunched back then and a lot of people would have missed it, so it's worth a refresh I think!
Great find though 😅
Wouldn't it be great if you could just put people on idle mode like that!
I'd love it for the kids!
That's pretty cool. I like hardware Easter eggs, the GOAT of course being the maze game on Master System.
When it goes into idle mode for a bit between it dimming and then my OLED auto dimming when there is static content on the screen, it's so dark it's barely visible. Great feature.
Is there any reason to actually put the console in idle mode, @Kezelpaso, @FraserG?
Removed - unconstructive
@Fiendish-Beaver to prevent screen burn, especially on OLED displays, while keeping the console on. You could just, y'know, turn the console and/or TV off, but I suppose sometimes life happens - you get pulled away from the console for longer than expected or whatever - so it's a good feature to have.
@FraserG Never trust an eye witness testimony!
AKA We all forget stuff the whole time. lol
@InterceptorAlpha I always thought is was additional screen burn in protection.
But that was my point, @Markatron84. If you are called away unexpectedly, you probably wouldn't think to switch to idle mode, particularly if you are in an online world, where going idle would see you removed from the game. If you know how long you're going to be, then you would probably either turn off the console and the TV, or at the very least just the TV (something I frequently do). I just cannot see circumstances where I would put the console in idle mode, particularly as it is probably using just as much energy in that mode as it would if you were actually playing. Just seems an odd capability, and not one that many people would use, even if they did know about it...
@Fiendish-Beaver idle mode will still kick in after a certain amount of time.
I thought you were asking what was the point in idle mode in general.
No, @Markatron84. I was wondering who would just put their console into idle mode. It just seems a pointless thing to do. I probably didn't make that clear in my original post, matey...
@Fiendish-Beaver Sorry. Autism. 🤷🤣
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