PlayStation 4 system update 7.00 arrives later this week.
PS4 system update 7

Sony is about to release the 7.00 system update for all PlayStation 4 owners later this week. This update has been a part of a public beta test since near the end of July 2019. This long testing period should hopefully mean that all of the issues have been ironed out prior to the public release.

What are the big features planned for 7.00? First and foremost we will see the increase in the number of players supported in a PlayStation 4 Party. The current maximum number of players is 8. The new 7.00 update will increase this maximum to 16 players.

Sony has also improved audio quality in the Party system. They have also worked to improve network connectivity while in a Party. They have also added Chat Transcription for better accessibility support, but this is for those in the US only through use of the Party App.

The other big inclusion for system update 7.00 is the release of Remote Play to a larger variety of Android enabled devices. Previously, Remote Play on Android was limited to Sony's own Xperia devices. Support for Remote Play on iOS devices came about with the 6.50 system update back in March 2019. Fortunately, Sony is going to allow for any mobile devices running Android 5.0 or higher to make use of Remote Play and the PS4 Remote Play App from the Google Play Store.

In addition, Sony will include much better DualShock 4 wireless controller support for those running the latest releases of both Android and iOS. This means that those on Android 10 will be able to connect their DualShock 4 controllers via Bluetooth to their devices. iOS users on iOS 13 or macOS Catalina will also be able to use this feature.

The last time I tried to connect my DualShock 4 to my phone via Bluetooth, it became a laggy near unresponsive mess after about 10 seconds. However, this was back on Android 9 (Pie), without any official support from Sony, and in a couple of non-Sony mobile games. Hopefully this official support coupled with Android 10 Bluetooth improvements will result in a much better experience for everyone.