Sony will release a new system software update for PlayStation 5 on April 24, and it will bring back the PS5 home screen UI designs based on Sony’s previous consoles.
These UI themes based on PS1, PS2, PS3, and PS4 were first released last December to celebrate PlayStation’s 30th anniversary. They were warmly received at the time of release, but were only available for a limited time and were gone by the end of January. When Sony removed the themes, it teased that it would eventually bring them back, and this April 24 system update will do just that.
According to a new PlayStation Blog post, Sony is now calling this feature “Appearance” rather than “Themes,” and a dedicated Appearance sub-menu will be added to the PS5’s system settings menu. After updating the console, players set one of these new appearances by following these steps:
- Navigate to and interact with the Settings Icon on the PS5’s Home Screen
- Pick the System settings menu
- Navigate down to the Appearance sub-menu
- Choose between the Default, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 Appearances.
The other new feature coming as part of the April 24 system update is Audio Focus, an accessibility feature that lets players adjust audio into different preset modes to more clearly hear certain parts of game audio. Currently, Audio Focus only works with headphones, not TV, AV receivers, or soundbar audio.
Players can find Audio Focus in the Volume menu and PS5 Control center and choose between the Boost Low Pitch, Boost Voices, Boost High Pitch, and Boost Quiet Sounds presets while there. Each preset can then be adjusted to weak, medium, and strong levels and set to both the left and right audio channels.