It is indeed the end of an era as the PlayStation 4 readies itself to pass on the mantle to its successor. During the seven years of its run, players acquainted themselves with the vast changes that were made to the world of gaming: from a completely revamped user interface to controllers embellished with trackpads and motion sensors, millions of gamers believe that they know all that there is to the revolutionary console but is this truly the case?

Every gaming system comes with its set of nuances and even the PlayStation 4 is not exempt from this rule. Read on to find just how many of these tips and tricks that you know.

10 Reset DS4 Controllers

Shadow of the tomb raider

Like most electronic gadgets of this modern age, the DualShock 4 controller for the PlayStation 4 is not without its occasional faults. There may be times when it simply won’t connect to your console, or other times when all of its buttons will be unresponsive. Fret not!

Instead of hauling the sleek mass of metal and plastic at the nearest wall you can find, flip the controller on its reverse side and look for a barely visible hole almost directly underneath the L2 button. When you do find it, insert any non-breakable object with a slender, sharp tip into the hole. This should reset the DS4 and hopefully return it to a state of normalcy.

9 Play Music While Gaming

Have you ever played any of those games where you feel like you know the perfect songs for some intense levels? Well, you may not have known this, but you can play songs outside of a game’s designated soundtracks while in the game.

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All you have to do is download the Spotify app from the PSN store. Go through the relevant sign-in/sign up processes and that’s it…! You have millions of songs literally at your fingertips. However, if Spotify is not available in your country, you will have to download your tunes on another device and then copy them to your console using a flash drive, or just stream them from a DLNA server on the Media Player app.

8 Share Play

It is fascinating the number of people who do not know about Share Play, especially when considering the fact that the PS4 is approaching the end of its life cycle. This brilliant feature Sony included in its 2.0 software update allows players the illusion of being in the same room.

By inviting friends to a party and selecting share play after pressing the share button, your gameplay can be watched by your chosen friend as if they were beside you. No recorded footage! And to take it a step further, you can also relinquish control of the game to your friend, allowing them some minutes of play even if they do not own a copy. Keep in mind though that this last feature requires both players to have PS+ membership and is recommended on networks with an upload speed of 2Mbps or higher.

7 Upgrade Hard Drive

In an era where video games and their relentless updates weigh a virtual ton, the PlayStation 4 fell short of expectations in terms of storage space. Even with more generous 1TB variations of the console, players still found themselves having to delete files after the passage of a few months.

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But all that can change, and without you having to lug your console out of the house, too. With a screwdriver in your back pocket, you can upgrade your console’s storage space and increase its performance. Just make sure to check with PlayStation to ensure that you have the correct things you need.

In the journey of every gamer, there have been those moments when the few extra movements of turning the TV on after the console feel like the Seven Labours of Hercules, especially when the remote lies unseen under the couch.

However, HDMI Link allows players to turn on not only their consoles with the PS button on their controllers, but also their television sets, also automatically select the HDMI port to which the console is connected. To get this done, head on over to Settings > System, and you should see a box marked ‘HDMI Link’ which you should tick.

5 Messaging

While the audio clarity of its headphones and the video quality of the PS4 Camera were rightly geared towards making interpersonal chats enjoyable, typing was obviously not an aspect that was accounted for on the PlayStation 4. With an on-screen keyboard where only one character can be typed in every few seconds, you might as well forget there was even a provision for one.

If you just so happen to be one of those gamers severely affected by this, you should consider opting for a mouse or external Bluetooth keyboard. Better yet, download the PlayStation App from Google Play or the App Store and enjoy sending messages the way you always have.

4 PlayStation App

ratchet and clank

With an impressive array of features, the PlayStation 4 was a strong system at launch. Add the Internet to that, and dozens of gamers remained glued to their screens for nights on end. This is where the PlayStation App stepped in.

A godsend developed for both Android and iOS devices, the mobile app allows players to be in on the action at all times, permitting them to change their profile pictures, send messages the ‘normal’ way, access their profiles and even those of their friends, and even download games on their PS4, all while being miles away from their consoles.

3 Mac/Windows Remote Play

One advantage that Xbox has over PlayStation lies in its consonance with Windows, which is largely due to both franchises being owned by Microsoft. Remote play, another PS4 feature you may not have been aware of, eliminates those boundaries by allowing owners to play their PS4 not only on their PC, but Mac devices too, which is quite the feat.

To enjoy the best of both worlds, enable remote play on your console before activating it as the primary PS4. Afterward, proceed to the PlayStation website to download the Remote Play app, and then sign in with the same account you used on your PS4.

2 PS+ Downloadable Games

PlayStation Plus subscription fees have at one time or the other been faulted as being too expensive, but one benefit is the downloadable free titles players get every month on the PS4. It gets even better for gamers who may not have sufficient storage space, as they can save those free games to their library until such a time when they are ready to play. And yes, games saved to your library can be accessed at any time without any restrictions.

1 Disc Manual Ejection

Manual ejection of game discs stuck in the console is not something of which many PS4 owners are aware. By sliding off the top panel of their consoles, players can eject discs stranded in the disc tray even while power is not supplied to the console – which is the recommended scenario. The process is not particularly complicated but it does require a great deal of care, a screwdriver, and a manual eject hole or screw depending on if you own a PS4 Pro or Slim.

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