It’s looking like July is Xbox Achievements Update month for Microsoft. Last week we took a look at the July Update Preview – part of which focuses on increasing the accessibility to Achievements while in-game.
Ever since the launch of the Xbox One last November, gamers have had to rely on the Xbox One SmartGlass app in order to view their achievement progress when not at their console as the achievements on the Xbox Live website are limited to Xbox 360 and Windows achievements – something that was somewhat puzzling to say the least.
All that is about to change as Major Nelson announced via Twitter.
You can now track your Xbox One, Xbox 360, Windows and Windows Phone achievements on http://t.co/CCciWRcOOL http://t.co/567kL5XkIP
— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) June 16, 2014
Microsoft is taking the July Xbox One Update one step further by updating their Xbox Live website to allow gamers to view all their Xbox Achievements from Xbox One, 360, Windows and Windows Phone in one location.
Xbox One SmartGlass
As mentioned above, the only way to currently view Xbox One achievement progress while away from your console is through the Xbox One SmartGlass app. Interestingly enough, you can also view and track your Xbox 360 and Windows Xbox achievements via the SmartGlass app as well.
Out With the Old…
On the existing Xbox Live website, the achievements are accessed through the Activity link when you are logged in.
As you can see, Xbox One achievements aren’t visible anywhere on the site. Clicking on a game brings you to a second screen which shows the achievement list for that game, with earned achievements on top and unearned achievements grayed out below.
In With the New…
The existing website works – for Xbox 360 and Windows achievements, but definitely looks dated as well. It looks like Microsoft took this into consideration with their redesigned achievements page. NOTE: at this time the new achievements page can only be accessed directly and doesn’t seem to appear in the menu navigation anywhere yet.
This redesign is a definite improvement over the current view. As this is still a work in progress, according to Major Nelson, the achievements aren’t in any specific order. I also noticed that games are incorrectly showing the overall completion percentage when you click-through to the game detail page.
I like the bigger tiles, and to be honest, I can see this looking great on a tablet or other device if you’re not using the SmartGlass app. I personally use my phone while in game to check the progress of achievements and given the number of games coming out with companion apps or SmartGlass support, this could be another option for a second screen while gaming.
And last, but not least, we have an achievement detail page – which currently does not exist on the current website version.
One of the features in the SmartGlass app that I’ve come to enjoy is the ability to toggle between Earned and Locked achievements. With the new web redesign, game achievements have been split out in similar fashion.
Overall, I’m a big fan of the redesign. One of the big features that is missing that I would love to see implemented is locked achievement progress. I like being able to look up a locked achievement on the SmartGlass app and see that I’m 44% towards unlocking an achievement for 50 CTF wins, or current progress towards other achievements. Being an achievement *ahem* *hore, this sometimes shapes what I focus on during my gameplay.
Along with this redesign, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an integrated Xbox SmartGlass app eventually where all achievements can be tracked in a single app instead of having a version for the 360 and another for the Xbox One/Windows.
What do you think of the long overdue redesign and integration of all Xbox Achievements in one location? What would you like to see that you feel is currently missing from achievement tracking and progress? Let us know in the comments below, or on Google Plus, Facebook, or Twitter!
Source: Major Nelson on Twitter, Xbox Live Achievements Website
Last Updated on February 7, 2019.
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