How To Put Your Xbox Series X Or S Into Developer Mode
Tim Brookes is a technology writer with more than a decade of experience. He’s invested in the Apple ecosystem, with experience covering Macs, iPhones, and iPads for publications like Zapier and MakeUseOf. Read more…
Developer Mode is available on the Xbox Series X and S. This feature can turn every console into a development kit. Microsoft officially announced it for the Xbox One back in 2016. Heres how to use Developer Mode on a modern Xbox, and why you might want to.
The Xbox One Comes With An Instant
Instant On is a power mode available in Xbox One that allows the console to start up in just two seconds. Its a way that the gaming console has been designed to operate and is similar to the rest mode on Play Station 4. The Instant On mode essentially sends the Xbox One in a rest mode where it isnt turned off, but it is just in a low-power state. If your console has Kinect , it will actually listen to your voice command and turn the system back on.
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The console will also instantly resume if it is turned on using the controller. Even if youre playing a game, it will only be suspended in the background, meaning that you can instantly resume the game and continue from where you left. In addition, it also allows the console to detect and download game updates, OS updates, and other data in the background.
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Ps5 Standby Mode And What You Can Do In Ps5 Rest Mode
While PS5 standby mode, or PS5 rest mode, is the suspended state you can leave a PS5 in, you can actually do a lot while your PlayStation is sleeping. Standby mode is different to turning off a PS5 completely and in this state it’ll draw a little power in the background to do some admin, downloads, patches and so on. That means you can use the PS5 standby mode to take the pain out of a lot of takes by getting rest mode to take care of it while you’re away. You’ll never have to worry about charging a pad, for example, if you know what you’re doing.
So here are all the benefits of opting for PS5 Rest Mode over turning it off entirely.
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Keep Your Controller Charged
One of the great benefits of remembering to plug your pad back in before you left your PS5 drift off to sleep is that in rest mode, your PS5 will still supply power to your USB ports.
You can adjust the length of time that the USB ports remain powered for in:
Settings > System > Power Saving > Features Available in Rest Mode
The options are ‘Always’, ‘Three Hours’, or ‘Off’. Three hours will be plenty to keep your pad topped up, but if you want to make sure it’s always fully charged when you come back to it, opt for the Always option.
Why Should You Leave Your Ps4 In Rest Mode

Rule number one: dont keep your PS4 on for hours when downloading a game. Why? It will shorten the consoles life span and make it more susceptible to overheating, which leads us to our next point Rest Mode is your best bet to download large files safely without any interruptions!
The beauty of the PS4 is that its designed to remain in the Rest Mode for hours without any issues . When downloading updates, playing games, or charging controllers, your console wont be damaged! Itll just be in a low power state and safe from overheating, so you can keep it on all day without worries.
Another advantage of the Rest mode is downloading and updating your games in the background while taking a break from the gaming sessions. You wont need to keep your console On to update any software or games.
However, the rare problems with using Rest Mode mainly include frequent unplugging of the console or power outages when any software or games are updating. So be mindful of not letting the power turn off when your console is on and not in the Rest Mode.
Hence, you can always leave your PS4 in the Rest Mode without worrying about any extra power usage or damage to the electrical components of the console.
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How To Put Xbox Series X
- Press the Xbox button on your controller to open the guide.
- Select Profile and System > Settings > General > Power mode and start-up
- You can choose which setting you want from the Power mode drop-down menu
With either of these consoles, once youve put them in the correct power mode, the hard work is done. Simply begin downloading the game you want, then you can switch off your console into Instant-on mode. This way the download will continue. Make sure your Xbox has a stable internet connection. Everything else will happen like magic.
How To Hard Reset Your Xbox One
If neither of these Xbox reset methods or troubleshooting steps helped to solve your console problems, a factory reset will be your next step.
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Your Present Game Remains Suspended:
While the PS5 doesnt have a likeness Xboxs Quick Resume, which keeps games accessible to instantly boot. After the machine is turned off altogether, PS5 can keep a game in its framework memory. A suspended state yet just when in Rest Mode. Powering off to Rest Mode implies if you boot a similar game immediately. Youll be returned to right the latest relevant point of interest.
How To Setup Instant On Mode
If you want to set up the Instant On power mode on the Xbox, you need to perform the following steps:
- Select the Menu button from the controller and press it.
- Navigate left to select the Next option, choose the Settings option and press on the Power and Startup box.
- Go to Power mode in Power options and select the button marked with A on your controller to choose between the two power modes i.e. Instant On mode and energy-saving mode.
Following the above-mentioned steps will allow you to turn on the Instant On mode and then you can test it out vs leaving the Xbox on but idle.
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Use This Xbox Screensaver Trick To Extend The Life Of Your Tv
There’s a useful trick available for Xbox One owners involving a screensaver that’ll both improve your Xbox experience and extend the life of your TV.
The tip was brought to light by Xbox’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb who highlighted some of the biggest Xbox news from the week of Nov. 3. While using a screensaver on your Xbox isn’t exactly breaking news, it was a “Did you know?” part of the video that provided a neat trick for those looking to dim the lights a bit when taking a break from their gaming.
Major Nelson’s “This Week on Xbox” video that’s shown above shows off the tip that most Xbox owners were probably completely unaware of. If you need to step away from your Xbox for just a while and want to tone down the brightness, simply hold down the Xbox button until the menu appears and press “X.” Doing so will dim your screen and put it into a screensaver mode until you take another action.
If you skip ahead to the 11:08 mark in Major Nelson’s video, you can see the screensaver function in action. The current time as well as information on your accessories’ battery life will appear around the screen to keep you informed and keep things moving while you take a break.
“Once in screensaver mode, your xbox will continueally exercise the pixels in your TV to prevent image retention and burn-in,” Major Nelson said. “This is great if you’re going to step away from your console for a while and helps extend the life of your TV screen.”
How Do I Keep My Xbox One On All Night
If your Xbox is set to instant-on mode it can still download updates and games whilst on standby mode. Then to put your Xbox on standby mode.
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Which Should You Use
If you never use your PS4 and leave it sitting around for months on end, you may want to consider turning off your PS4 instead of putting it into Rest Mode. The benefits of instantly resuming your gameplay dont matter if you never touch your console.
But, in practically all other cases, youre better off leaving your PS4 in Rest Mode. Tell it to only supply power to the USB ports for 3 hours and youll cut the power usageand costof Rest Mode by more than half. After all, Rest Mode is a big time saver if you do use your PS4. And, even if you dont use it often, Rest Mode will keep your games and software up to date so you wont have to wait for downloads when you do want to use it.
Change Your Dns Settings

Other players have reported that changing your DNS settings can help improve download speeds.
If you go to Network Settings and choose to set up your DNS manually, inputting the Primary DNS as 8.8.8.8 and the Secondary DNS as 8.8.8.4 will connect you using Googles public DNS and help speed up your download.
Follow these tips and your Vanguard download will be done in no time at all! For more Vanguard intel, check out our definitive assault rifle tier list as well as all of the Operators appearing in the game.
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Why Is My Download Speed So Slow When I Have Fast Internet
There are many reasons your Internet connection might appear slow. It could be a problem with your modem or router, Wi-Fi signal, signal strength on your cable line, devices on your network saturating your bandwidth, or even a slow DNS server. These troubleshooting steps will help you pin down the cause.
Setting Xbox Series X/s To Rest Mode Should Be Easier
To get the Xbox Series X/S into Instant-on mode, users have to navigate through several settings menus to even find the option. They must first go to “My Games and Apps,” followed by “Apps” and “Settings” , then hit “Power mode & startup” and select the “Power mode” dropdown. This will allow the user to toggle between Instant-on and Energy-saving, but the whole process is simply too clunky, especially considering how Sony handles its PlayStation consoles’ Rest Mode.
To put a PlayStation 5 or PS4 system into Rest Mode, all the user has to do is go into the quick menu and select the Rest Mode option, which immediately puts the console into a state of low power consumption that still allows downloads and updates to progress. In theory, Microsoft could easily have established a similar rest mode for the Xbox Series X/S, making the process of downloading games much more streamlined. Users should be allowed to choose to put their consoles in a rest state on a case-by-case basis, instead of having to constantly enter the settings and change the power mode for the current shutdown. Adding a normal rest mode to Xbox Series X/S would give users an easier way to download games and updates when stepping away from their consoles – particularly useful given the constantly changing Xbox Game Pass catalog.
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How To Put Your Ps4 In Rest Mode
Activating Rest Mode on your PS4 is really easy once you know how to do it. But before you try to put your PS4 into Rest Mode, make sure that you have checked all the boxes in Settings> Power Saving Settings> Set Features Available in Rest Mode. This is just what we learned in the excerpt above.
Here are a few different ways to turn on the Rest Mode.
Once the Rest Mode is activated, the display will darken, and the power indicator will start blinking white before turning orange.
Now that we know how convenient our gaming experience becomes with the rest mode, its time to learn more about the issues you can face in this Rest Mode, especially with the PS4 getting stuck in the rest mode.
Xbox Series X Instant
If you’re looking for lightning fast performance and don’t care all that much about the environment or your electricity bill, then the Xbox Series X Instant-on standby mode will be what you’re looking for.
Xbox Series X Standby mode will ensure that your console goes from off to signed into Xbox Live in fewer than five seconds. Pair that with Quick Resume and it means you’ll be able to go from sitting on the couch to moving a character around in, potentially, no more than 20 seconds. If anything, between the SSD, standby mode and Quick Resume, the Xbox Series X is too fast.
With standby selected, you’ll find that your games and applications will continue installing and automatically update, even when you turn the console off – although you can turn this function off under the ‘Updates’ section of the ‘System’ category in the console settings. You’ll even be able to play, install, and manage console games from your mobile device through the new application if you’re after guidance on that one, here’s how to set up the Xbox mobile app.
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It Opens Remote Play And Control Highlights:
With the PS5 in Rest Mode, youll have the option to remotely sign. The machine and utilize it from a far distance. That implies you can utilize the PlayStation App on your telephone to install games prepared. When you return to the machine, or you can mess around somewhat on upheld gadgets with Remote Play. For these elements, youll need to survey the settings around turning on PS5. The organization in the System, Power Saving and Rest Mode areas of the control center settings.
Itll Charge Your Regulator:
When in rest mode, the PS5 will of course keep the USB ports controlled for quite a while subsequent to being wound down. This implies you can leave your DualSense regulator connected and itll be topped up the following time you utilize the machine. You can even module other USB gadgets to charge similarly, and a significant part of the time theyll work. In the System and Power Saving part of the PS5 settings menu, you can change how long the USB ports remain controlled for after the PS5 winds down of course, this is three hours.
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Xbox Series X Power Options: Instant
Your console should explain these two different options for you, but in case you missed it, Xbox has summed up the differences between Instant-On and Energy-Saving modes in a handy Help page online.
As the Help page explains, when you choose Instant-On, youre able to: start-up faster, wake your console with your voice , and you can even use your console to turn on your TV and cable or satellite.
On the other side of the fence, in energy-saving power mode, your console is shut down to save energy. In this mode, your console takes 45 seconds to start up, and you must press the Xbox button to start the console.
Basically, Instant-On means your console will be that little bit speedier, but it will also be using more power. Youll get a slower start-up with Energy-Saving mode, but youll also be doing a little bit more to help the planet. Thats the choice you have to make, basically.
Personally, I opted for Instant-On because I really wanted to see the next-gen start-up speeds in action, but Im not against the idea of switching to Energy-Saving mode later on.
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What Is Xbox Sleep Mode

Sleep mode is a shorthand for putting your Xbox on standby, rather than switching it off completely. Its the Xbox equivalent to the PlayStation 5s Rest Mode.
Technically, the Xbox offers more than one kind of standby mode. There is the Energy-saving power mode, which is designed, as youd expect, to save energy. It takes longer for the console to boot up after you turn it back on up to 45 seconds.
Another option, the one used to download games while this Xbox is on standby, is the Instant-on mode. As the name suggests, this will switch your console on much faster, taking under 5 seconds.
The benefit here is that games and applications will continue installing and updating, even when the console is off. It does consume more power than the energy-saving mode, but it will save you time. Its also less energy intensive than having the console fully switched-on while you download a game.
So now thats all straightened out, how do we make sure our Xbox is in the right power mode? How can we download games in the background while its switched off?
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