Xbox One update will ditch the console's signature Snap mode

The Xbox One's Snap mode was a major selling point on launch -- it was supposed to turn your console into a multitasking powerhouse that lets you play a game while watching TV or tracking achievements. It's a resource hog, however, and Microsoft now believes that it's time for a change. The company's Mike Ybarra has revealed that Snap is disappearing in order to boost performance. It'll improve multitasking, memory demands and "overall speed," he says. It'll also clear resources for "bigger things," although Ybarra offers no clues as to what that means.

Snap should disappear with the next big Dashboard update, which emphasizes performance and a redesigned Guide that fulfills some Snap tasks (such as background music controls). It doesn't mean that simultaneous on-screen apps will never come back, though. Now that the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs can sometimes run the same software, there's a strong incentive to run games and more functional apps at the same time. It may just be a question of how you run them.