Things that bug me about the PlayStation 4 UI

The PlayStation 4 user interface is smooth, fast, and gets the job done. But there are a number of little things bugging me that I’m hoping Sony will address in the near future.

Here’s what I think needs improvement:

Library

• The Library needs sorting options. It automatically sorts games by last played, but offers no option to sort games alphabetically, etc.
• The Library groups together games and apps. There should be folders separating the two.
• The Library is tied to the network, showing all of your downloaded games and apps, even if they’re not installed. For this reason, you cannot:
  1. Access the Library without being connected to the network.
  2. Remove games from the Library. This wouldn’t be a problem for purchased games, as the convenience of quickly accessing a game, even if it’s not downloaded and installed to the system, is a welcome one. But downloaded demos, even when deleted, forever appear in the Library. I played the FIFA 14 demo and deleted it when I was done. But I can’t remove it from my Library. Now imagine every demo you ever download never leaving your library.

Home Screen

• Currently, I have five games installed, all of which appear on the home screen. I’m beginning to wonder how many games it’ll take before the home screen becomes too cluttered. And it’s already looking cluttered as it is.
• The Playroom, Music Unlimited, and Video Unlimited are all perma-glued to the home screen. I don’t use these.
• Perhaps this is just my own OCD, but I feel like “TV and Video,” “Internet Browser,” and “Live from PlayStation” should always be together, at the end of the horizontal scroll, next to Library.

Game Page

• Each game’s ‘Game Page’ is tied to the network. If the network is down or if you’re not connected, you won’t have access to the game manual (which is browser-based) or trophies chart that regularly appear below games.

What’s New

• “Mr. Smith earned a trophy from Resogun.” Click. “View content info” for Resogun. Click. Overview, recent activities, and related items are empty. “View content info” only appears when the game is installed on your hard-drive. Otherwise, a “View in PS Store” option will appear. “View content info” should show the same information you see in a title’s ‘Game Page’ on the home screen. But it shows nothing but empty fields.
• You can’t leave comments. Only Likes. This isn’t really much of a complaint, but it’d be nice to be able to do.

Friends

• If a friend is shown as now playing [Game Name Here] on his or her profile, I can’t click it to access the content / PlayStation Store page.
• The option to receive an notification when a friend signs in would be appreciated.
• Let me change my PlayStation Network ID. Charge me $5, I don’t mind. (Okay, maybe that’s not a user interface concern, but still.)

Trophies

• Game list and trophies cannot be sorted by name, date earned, etc.
• You can’t press the PlayStation button to view a trophy’s details when you earn it.