Xbox is looking into some reports of media apps slowing down after they’ve been used for a long time. A few users are experiencing this problem, which shows up as slow performance in apps after they’ve been streaming or watching media for a while.
This issue is different from general app slowdowns and is not caused by user settings or TV hardware. According to Pure Xbox, Microsoft actively working on a fix, telling users, “We are investigating a small number of reports with some media apps becoming laggy or sluggish after extended playback. Workaround: Switching to a game then back to the media app or quitting and relaunching the app will resolve the behavior.”
It’s interesting that the temporary solution is switching to a game and then going back to the media app or completely closing it and opening it again. This issue may be related to how the console manages resources or memory. Microsoft has shared that it has been working on using less power for media streaming and other activities that aren’t gaming on the Xbox. The company made important updates to the Xbox consoles, especially improving how the Xbox Series S manages video content. As a result, there has been an average reduction of nearly 10% in power use for all media apps on the Xbox Series S.
The exact cause of the problem isn’t clear, but there are a few possible explanations. One idea is that there might be a memory leak in the system, which fits the fact that the issue tends to happen after using the console for a long time and gets better when you restart the apps. This might be due to the system not properly freeing up resources when switching between gaming and watching media.
The issue seems to be pretty limited to some Redditors, but Microsoft gave its workaround. However, it’s important because it impacts media apps on a device that can potentially be a full entertainment center. It likely will be gone over time in an update, but if it affects you, it’s a good idea to restart the console entirely, as it can limit issues from reoccurring.
