Xbox 360 Update Means Goodbye to Facebook, Twitter Apps

Microsoft is currently in the process of pushing their newest Xbox 360 dashboard update to users. As you probably know, one of the most-desired additions to the Xbox experience is shipping along with ...
Xbox 360 Update Means Goodbye to Facebook, Twitter Apps
Written by Josh Wolford

Microsoft is currently in the process of pushing their newest Xbox 360 dashboard update to users. As you probably know, one of the most-desired additions to the Xbox experience is shipping along with this update: a true Internet Explorer browser.

If you’ve already received the update, you may or may not have noticed a small change in the apps offered in the Xbox LIVE marketplace. The Verge is reporting that both the Facebook and Twitter apps are gone and according to sources, Microsoft made the move to promote use of the new Internet Explorer browser.

From Microsoft’s perspective, it makes sense. If users can’t access Facebook or Twitter via a designated app, they’ll have to open up Internet Explorer and visit the sites that way. For users, it might be a bit of an annoyance that they can’t download specific apps for each service.

Note that I said download. Although the Facebook and Twitter apps are gone from the app marketplace, users that had previously downloaded the apps before the update was shipped can still use them.

The new Xbox 360 dashboard not only feature Internet Explorer, but also sports a new UI, recommendations and ratings, pinning, a new Xbox video (formerly Zune Marketplace), and enhanced voice search. The Xbox 360 was also the first device to get the new Xbox Music streaming service. Microsoft says that the initial push hit about 3 million consoles. If you haven’t yet received the update, your wait should only be a about a week or two.

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