This week Microsoft gave us a peek at its next Xbox interface refresh, and revealed that this style will include both the current Xbox One consoles and its upcoming Xbox Series X hardware. A few weeks ago Microsoft previewed the Store users will see on Xbox Series X, and the rounded corners from that design will be all over the system’s new UI.

It won’t stop at consoles however, as Microsoft said that this holiday you’ll see the look on the Game Pass app for PC, as well as its mobile apps. The idea is to tie everything closely together, while also upgrading the speed and responsiveness. Recording game captures on Xbox One already pops up a notification on linked mobile devices, and now the clip, as well as other notifications from your console, will be fully synced from console to phone.

It’s been over a year since Mark Zuckerberg first showed off the new look of Facebook.com, but soon it will be the website’s only version for desktop users. It has been the new default since May, but users could opt-out. A notification on the page and support pages that told users how to switch back now indicate that the Classic Facebook is going away in September, and taking its old blue theme with it.

Facebook

Designers and engineers explained their reasoning for the makeover to Engadget a few months ago. The stagnation preceding this revamp occurred while Facebook focused on mobile devices, but now it’s ready to push items like its Watch and Gaming sections, as well as the conspiracist-riddled Groups.

This has been in the works for a long time. Facebook first promised a cleaner and faster desktop interface at its F8 developers conference last spring. A limited number of users began testing the revamped design in January.

If you use Facebook’s desktop version, you’ll likely see a banner at the top of the page, asking if you want to try the “New Facebook.” For now, you can still switch back to “Classic Facebook” if you choose, but the redesign will become the default later this year.

Other changes include centralized tabs for Facebook Watch, Marketplace, Groups and Gaming. Even if users don’t like all aspects of the redesigned interface, dark mode will likely be popular. It’s already available in a number of Facebook-owned apps, including Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. Plus, there’s a good chance users are looking at their screens even more during the coronavirus pandemic, and this could help reduce some eyestrain.

Spotify has moved several interface elements to frontload useful information at the top of the screen. This is most apparent with the new placement of descriptions. They now sit underneath the “follow” button in the new design, which means you don’t have to swipe to find out what a show is about. Underneath the description, Spotify has nested genre tags you can tap on to find similar podcasts.

However, the most significant tweak is that the new interface will place “trailer” episodes at the top of the episode list. If you’re a frequent podcast listener, you’ve probably listened to trailer episodes without necessarily knowing. They’re short, one- to two-minute clips designed to give you a good sense of what a show is about without listening to a full episode. Anchor, one of the companies Spotify acquired last year, recently added a feature to its app to make it easier for DIY podcasters to create trailer episodes, so it’s not surprising to see Spotify put a greater emphasis on them. The thread connecting all the tweaks is that you can now find out more information about a show faster.

Over the last year-and-a-half, Spotify has been making both big and small tweaks to the podcast section of its app. For instance, the company recently made it so that you could add podcast episodes to playlists and created a daily playlist that surfaces new recommendations. Today’s redesign is probably just the start of changes and enhancements the company has planned for 2020.

The revamped e-scooters have already been tested as part of a pilot program in Baltimore, and beginning next month, the scooters will arrive in Portland, Ore.; Los Angeles; Berkeley, Calif.; Denver; Washington, DC; Kansas City, Mo.; Memphis, Tenn. and Minneapolis. They’ll arrive with new branding, and Spin says we can expect to see them in more US cities in the not-too-distant future. Of course, they’ll have plenty of competition, from the likes of Lime, Lyft and Jump.

Still waiting for Samsung’s first foldable phone? Bloomberg cites anonymous sources saying that Samsung has completed a redesign of the Galaxy Fold in just two months. The protective film now covers the entire screen and stretches into the bezel so people can’t pull it off by accident, and hopefully reduce the appearance of a seam in the middle. Also, the hinge has reportedly undergone tweaking to make it flush with the display, and pushing the film up when the device is opened.

In case you’ve forgotten, the nearly $2,000 device was supposed to be on the market by now. But after multiple testers had problems with their review units in April, Samsung delayed its planned launch and the device has been in a holding pattern ever since.

Assuming that’s all accurate, and reworked parts will soon head to Vietnam for mass production, don’t expect to hear about a new launch date just yet. The Galaxy Note 10 will be revealed at Samsung’s Unpacked event in Brooklyn on August 7th, but the same sources said we won’t get a new date for the Fold at that time. All we know for now is that it’s intended to be ready for launch ahead of the holiday season.

Simplify moves all of Gmail’s sidebar icons to discrete drop-down and pull-up menus. It relocates the search feature to a less prominent location and moves core functions, like delete, to the top bar. It also eliminates color-coded labels, and places the create new mail button in the bottom right corner, where the new mail window opens.

It’s all about improving Gmail’s user interface, which Leggett has been trying to do for more than a decade. As Fast Company reports, after leaving Gmail, Leggett co-founded Inbox, and later, while working on products like Messenger for Facebook, he continued to think about Gmail. He developed extensions to redesign other sites, and when Google killed Inbox, he decided to share Simplify.

The extension has reportedly been downloaded more than 15,000 times, with about 500 new installs per day. It doesn’t deliver ads or collect analytics, and Legget has shared the code on Github. He’s had an offer to sell, but says he’ll keep Simplify free — though he hasn’t ruled out creating a separate paid service.