As well as the latest Xbox Live update that was released on the 6th of December, Microsoft have finished off their new official iOS App called "My Xbox Live" (designed for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad).
To be honest I was not expecting the app to be any good, if previous official apps from other manufactures have been anything to go by that is. However I will admit that after downloading/installing this to our iPad 2 I couldn't help but be impressed with what I found.
For a start the app has a similar look and feel to the main console interface and using the iPad's intuitive multi-touch controls I could quickly swipe between the various options (which I will explain below) with ease. I did note that other users have reported minor crashes on the iPhone version but personally I have not had an issue.
Home Tab
The first screen you will come to is the home tab which showcases your Avatar (which you can tap on to perform various funny actions) and a few snippets from the Spotlight gallery (videos of games, the Kinect show and Insider Moves) that scroll through in a slideshow format. By clicking on the "browse" option to the left you can then expand this section and discover a whole host of additional videos. Some of these highlight the latest games, while others contain polls, explanations about the new Dashboard and other cool informative videos from some of the Official Xbox Mag team (Inside Xbox - The Nexus for example).
Social Tab
Swipe to the right tab and this reveals the Social hub. As per the previous screen it shows off your animated Avatar. However the latter can also be adjusted via the right hand options, so for example you can modify your Avatars clothes and features. What's neat about this section is that the look and feel is once again almost identical to the console interface. It's certainly a great touch being able to add new styles on the fly.
Additionally on the Social hub you can view your profile, send messages to your Xbox Live friends, find information about your existing friends (or find new ones) and then compare games. Finally you can send out Beacons, which is the new feature that allows you to request like minded friends to play games with on Xbox Live.
Recent Games
The final tab is self-explanatory as it lists the last six games that you have played, along with the number of achievements. Select a game and it will showcase all of your achievements so far and what your need to do in order to get the ones you don't have.
There is also a search and browse function so you can view or quickly gain access to all the games that you have played to-date.
Marketplace
The only thing that is missing from the new app is the ability to access the Marketplace so you can't buy or download software for your console. However this feature will know doubt be integrated within the app at some point.
So there we have it, for a first attempt Microsoft have done a pretty good job of capturing a similar look and feel to the main console interface. For the most part you will be able to comfortably text friends, send Beacon requests, check out the latest goings on in the Xbox World and modify your Avatar, all on the fly - great app!
Written on iPad 2
