
Every now and then, Microsoft's 'Snap Mode' feature creeps its way back into the conversation like an estranged relative at a family gathering - and this week, the Xbox community has been talking fondly about the feature on Reddit.
Posting out to the online forum yesterday, user Joshrelates kicked off the discussion by saying "I miss the snap feature" and "I used to use it all the time when playing GTA" - prompting some passionate responses from other fans who also want to see the axed Xbox One feature return.
Here are just a few of the Snap-supportive responses:
TravelerOfLight: "Don't we all"
Axel_65: "I enjoyed it too. It was sad to see it go. My most common use was to toss on a sitcom while I was mining in crafting games. Very chill experience."
9mmMedic: "I loved snapping guides or game maps while playing."
JintalJortail: "Snap was a fantastic feature and no one can convince me otherwise. Especially when it came to streaming. Not having to deal with where to put chat so it’s not blocking anything was great. It really shined on games that were grindy as well. Now if I want the experience of snap I have to either put something in my phone and keep it in line sight of my tv or go grab another monitor to have stuff on."
Aynohn: "Yeah snap an app was great. Have no idea why they removed that"
Beowolf736: "I loved Snap! I remember playing Minecraft while watching videos on the side it was amazing."
For those of us who were Xbox regulars back during the XB1 era, we can remember those times and this feature well - snapping a smaller image to the side of your main gaming screen was definitely a useful feature on Xbox. However, not everyone in the community even recalls its existence:
Systemmanic: "Didn’t realize this used to be a feature. For those who don’t know, it’s basically the same as the window snap feature. Can open two things at once."
Drjenkstah: "Never used the feature and first time hearing about it."
MinusBear: "Never knew it existed until now. I was actually thinking the other day about how I would love to be able to have a YouTube pip while playing certain games. Or even stream a friend playing the same game as me in the corner if we are coplaying some single-player game. But this snap feature sounds like it would be a great way to have a guide up for a game, could really use it for games that have a lot of collectibles."
Even that final response sees merit in the idea, so clearly, there remains an appeal for something like Snap Mode on Xbox these days. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like the beloved feature will return anytime soon - Xbox engineering Eden Marie basically confirmed this back in 2022.
Still, just as we pondered last summer - we still think there's a place for Snap Mode on Xbox Series X|S, and the feature could actually work a whole lot better with the current generation's more powerful Xbox hardware.
What are thoughts on all of this, PXers? Snap into life and talk to us in the comments down below.
[source reddit.com]
Comments 14
Is a Reddit post with not even 200 upvotes really news worthy or representative of “Xbox Fans”?
I’d like articles on the individual indie games from the xbox indie showcase instead of a single article that links to their YT trailers, that’s actually news related to this website and the platform. Or does indie coverage not garner any clicks?
Edit: even pushsquare and Nintendolife covered the ID@Xbox showcase more than PureXbox.
I loved snap for going through games and enjoying a netflix show on the side. I used the hdmi in to connect a android tv box to it so I had a completely separate remote for it. It was nice and I was really disappointed by it's removal
I use to love to snap a dubbed anime on since it didn’t require me to constantly watch the show like a subbed anime would and I could just glance over from time to time…I honestly prob wouldn’t have gotten through all one thousand episodes of One Piece otherwise
Snap mode was a big selling feature on the Xbone when I first got it. Used to love me a lazy Sunday afternoon playing Forza or Overwatch and having the ballgame on the same screen. Biggest issue is the thing was a memory hog and would impact your game performance. We WERE PROMISED a PiP feature that never materialized. No lie, I would probably have never gotten the Xbone if not for the Snap Mode.
XBox Fans also want disc games🫡
Snap was a neat feature I thought, and although I don't miss it that much that I demand it back, I do think MS got rid of it a little too soon.
I liked snap... but they removed it when they increased the amount of resources they gave to developers on XBO suggesting it used up more than they were willing to concede. Would you rather the processing power goes towards your games or snap?
Hell no! It was a drain on performance, they confirmed this when they made the decision to remove it. The games should absolutely always be priority over a superfluous feature like this.
This was one of the winning ideas they focused on during the Xbox One reveal in 2013. That was the only time I ever saw it used.
I wonder what the usage statistics were for it. Probably really low percentage of users.
@BacklogBrad I think the snapshot feature was definitely ahead of its time. I do wish we had the feature on Series X and S just because I believe the new consoles and their SSDs could really make the feature worthwhile. I liked pulling up tutorials and watching the videos as I played, it made Easter eggs smooth.
I think a modern version of snapshot would be a cool feature, is it something I desperately need? No. Is it something that's cool that I'd like to use again? Yes, absolutely. The Series X and S are already some of the best consoles ever made imo, one more badass feature would just be another plus in my book.
I’d love that. I used to use it all that time for Picture in Picture.
@themightyant yep, I’m pretty sure that the Xbox One had 8GB of RAM in total, and Snap, other background apps and the dashboard continually hogged 3GB of that, so the console lost a tonne of power that could have been used on games. That and it used DDR3 instead of GDDR5 (which the PS4 used) which is why things like Dark Souls 3 were much lower resolution on the XB1
@darkswabber To be transparent, it's difficult for us to justify doing articles on single indie games from the ID@Xbox showcase.
That's why we highlight this stuff in roundups instead - the views and comments are always much higher, and therefore the site is able to benefit much more. People generally just seem more interested in an overview rather than coverage of each individual game, which also helps us to be honest as we're a small team!
Obviously it can be different when we have major events like the Xbox Games Showcase, but indie showcase reveals typically don't garner enough interest to make it worth doing single articles.
Your feedback is definitely taken on board though, and we'll continue to evaluate the the situation to see how we can cover these showcases most effectively.
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