With the Nintendo Switch over 4 years into its lifecycle, it's no surprise that the system receives constant updates, though they may not be the kinds of updates fans tend to want. Since the console's release, its UI, built-in features, and more have remained widely unchanged, bar the addition of a recently-added Nintendo Switch Online icon on the home menu and the ability to see which games are trending with a Switch owner's friends.
Although fans have clamored for things like folders to organize their games by or Nintendo-inspired themes to customize their home screen with, it seems that those features remain exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS for now. Fans were surprised to see an update pop up on their Nintendo Switch last night, however, with some hoping for some big changes given the additions brought by version 11.0 last December.
Switch console owners can now update their system to firmware version 12.0.0. Nintendo has updated its official Nintendo Switch System Updates and Change History website page to detail what the new update brings, noting that an issue regarding the failure of Nintendo Switch Online's automatic save data backup feature has now been resolved. Other than this bug fix and some deep internal OS component changes, it seems that there are no other changes with the new update.
Before the 12.0 update, some Switch owners reportedly experienced an issue where their save data backup would halt completely if they experienced an unrelated communication error while the backup was happening in the background. Of course, this could be a detrimental bug, causing some Switch players to lose access to their save data backups in the case of a system transfer, which is necessary for games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons to carry save data over to a different Switch system. Despite this bug fix, fans have expressed disappointment that the jump from 11.4 to 12.0 didn't yield more significant changes or additions.
With the coming of version 11.0 last December, Switch fans were introduced to one of the system's biggest updates yet, bringing them a Nintendo Switch Online icon on the home screen, the automatic cloud save data backup functionality, the Trending feature in the friends page, and the ability to transfer screenshots and recordings to their smart phones among other features. Usually with smaller Switch updates like 12.0, fans can expect some new user icons, but those seem to be absent this time as well.
The Nintendo Switch just celebrated its 4th anniversary early last month, which saw fans, industry professionals, and even entire video game companies come together to celebrate the revolutionary hybrid handheld-home gaming console. Now, as rumors of a Switch Pro heat up, it should be interesting to see where Nintendo takes the console in the coming months.
Source: Nintendo