Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority
- The April 2021 Sony PlayStation 5 update lands on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
- The update’s most notable new feature is the ability to store PS5 games on an external drive.
- Cross-generation Share Play is also coming with the new update.
Today, Sony announced the launch date of the first major software update to its latest console, the PlayStation 5. The update will start to roll out to those lucky enough to own a PS5 on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
Up until now, the few Sony PlayStation 5 updates we’ve seen have been pretty tiny and didn’t bring many new features. Tomorrow’s update, though, will bring two long-awaited features to the console. Additionally, Sony has promised some cool new features coming to its mobile app — although they are not part of tomorrow’s update and there’s no set date for their arrival.
The biggest new feature coming to PS5 consoles tomorrow is the ability to store PS5 games on an external drive. Although you could do this already with previous-gen games (such as PS4 games downloaded from the online store), you couldn’t do it with PS5 games. This forced you to delete games if your internal SSD filled up and then redownload them whenever you wanted to play them next.
Related: The best hard drives and solid-state drives you can buy for the Playstation 5
Now, you can easily move PS5 games from the internal drive to an external drive. When you want to play them again, you can simply move them back. This is far faster than redownloading them or re-ripping them from a physical disc.
However, do keep in mind that you can’t actually play PS5 games from an external drive. You also cannot download a game directly to an external drive. This Sony PlayStation 5 update also does not bring the ability to upgrade your internal SSD.
Sony PlayStation 5 update April 2021: More new stuff
Another big new feature coming tomorrow is cross-generation Share Play. With Share Play, you can play local co-op games online with friends as if they were in the room with you. For example, if you’re playing a split-screen racing game, you could do so on your console while your friend participated with their own console wherever they are in the world.
Unfortunately, Share Play doesn’t work if one of you has a PS5 and the other doesn’t. Tomorrow’s Sony PlayStation 5 update changes that, allowing you to have Share Play sessions with friends who have PS4 consoles.
See also: PlayStation Plus vs PlayStation Now: Which one is right for you?
Finally, Sony is promising some big new updates for its mobile app. In the coming weeks, you’ll have the ability to join a multiplayer session on your PS5 from within the app. You’ll also be able to manage your PS5 storage remotely and compare your trophy collection against those of your friends. You’ll also finally be able to sort and filter products shown in the PlayStation Store, which is something you should have been able to do from Day 1.
You can download the Android version of the PlayStation app here.