The PlayStation 4 system software is the updatable

firmware In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...

and

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

of the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 i ...

. The operating system is Orbis OS, based on FreeBSD 9.

Technology

System

The native operating system of the PlayStation 4 is Orbis OS, which is a

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with which one ...

FreeBSD FreeBSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), which was based on Research Unix. The first version of FreeBSD was released in 1993. In 2005, FreeBSD was the most popular ...

version 9.0 which was released on January 12, 2012. The PlayStation 4 features two graphics APIs, a low-level API named '' Gnm'' and a high-level API named '' Gnmx''. Most developers start with Gnmx, which wraps around Gnm, and in turn manages the more esoteric

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...

details. This can be a familiar way to work if the developers are used to platforms like

Direct3D Direct3D is a graphics application programming interface (API) for Microsoft Windows. Part of DirectX, Direct3D is used to render three-dimensional graphics in applications where performance is important, such as games. Direct3D uses hardware ...

12. Another key area of the game is its programmable

pixel shader In computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that calculates the appropriate levels of light, darkness, and color during the Rendering (computer graphics), rendering of a 3D scene - a process known as ''shading''. Shaders have evolved ...

s. Sony's own ''PlayStation Shader Language'' (PSSL) was introduced to the PlayStation 4. It has been suggested that the PlayStation Shader Language is very similar to the

HLSL The High-Level Shader Language or High-Level Shading Language (HLSL) is a proprietary shading language developed by Microsoft for the Direct3D 9 API to augment the shader assembly language, and went on to become the required shading language ...

standard in DirectX 12, with just subtle differences that could be eliminated mostly through

preprocessor In computer science, a preprocessor (or precompiler) is a program that processes its input data to produce output that is used as input in another program. The output is said to be a preprocessed form of the input data, which is often used by so ...

macros. Besides the kernel and related components, other components included and worth mentioning are

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

jQuery jQuery is a JavaScript library designed to simplify HTML DOM tree traversal and manipulation, as well as event handling, CSS animation, and Ajax. It is free, open-source software using the permissive MIT License. As of Aug 2022, jQuery is u ...

Lua Lua or LUA may refer to: Science and technology * Lua (programming language) * Latvia University of Agriculture * Last universal ancestor, in evolution Ethnicity and language * Lua people, of Laos * Lawa people, of Thailand sometimes referred t ...

Mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanes ...

OpenSSL OpenSSL is a software library for applications that provide secure communications over computer networks against eavesdropping or need to identify the party at the other end. It is widely used by Internet servers, including the majority of HT ...

WebKit WebKit is a browser engine developed by Apple and primarily used in its Safari web browser, as well as on the iOS and iPadOS version of any web browser. WebKit is also used by the BlackBerry Browser, PlayStation consoles beginning from the ...

, and the Pixman rendering library. Many of these are

open-source software Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. ...

, although the PlayStation 4 is not an open console. The

Software Development Kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific ...

(SDK) is based on

LLVM LLVM is a set of compiler and toolchain technologies that can be used to develop a front end for any programming language and a back end for any instruction set architecture. LLVM is designed around a language-independent intermediate repre ...

and

Clang Clang is a compiler front end for the C, C++, Objective-C, and Objective-C++ programming languages, as well as the OpenMP, OpenCL, RenderScript, CUDA, and HIP frameworks. It acts as a drop-in replacement for the GNU Compiler Collection ...

, which Sony has chosen due to its conformant C and

C++ C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...

front-ends,

C++11 C11, C.XI, C-11 or C.11 may refer to: Transport * C-11 Fleetster, a 1920s American light transport aircraft for use of the United States Assistant Secretary of War * Fokker C.XI, a 1935 Dutch reconnaissance seaplane * LET C-11, a license-build ...

support, compiler optimization and diagnostics.

Graphical shell

The PlayStation 4 uses the PlayStation Dynamic Menu as its graphical shell, in contrast to the

XrossMediaBar The XrossMediaBar (pronounced "cross-media bar" and officially abbreviated as XMB) is a graphical user interface developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The interface features icons that are spread horizontally across the screen. Navigation m ...

(XMB) used by the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3, as well as the LiveArea used by the PlayStation Vita and

PlayStation TV The PlayStation TV (abbreviated to PS TV), known in Japan and other parts of Asia as the PlayStation Vita TV or PS Vita TV, is a microconsole, and a non-handheld variant of the PlayStation Vita handheld game console. It was released in Japan on ...

. It is named "Dynamic Menu" because the options it offers to players are context-sensitive, changing based on what a player is actually doing with their PlayStation 4 at any given time. This makes navigation simpler than the previous iteration. This dynamic menu can alter itself so that there's as little time as possible between the users placing a game in the disc drive and the actual gameplay beginning. The PlayStation 4's user interface attempts simplicity as a priority. The main place for entertainment options, the Content area, is prominently displayed with large square icons on a horizontal line arranged by the most recently used. Users can scroll through this gamer newsfeed in an alternating, brick-like formation reminiscent of the social media site

Pinterest Pinterest is an American image sharing and social media service designed to enable saving and discovery of information (specifically "ideas") on the internet using images, and on a smaller scale, animated GIFs and videos, in the form of pinboard ...

. Many other main objects will display additional information when having the cursor selected on them. A game may have news updates or advertisements for its downloadable content. Recently played games receive tiles along with a number of mandatory items like the Live from PlayStation and the Internet Browser applications. Content icon customization and options on how to sort them would give players a way to mold the display to better suit their needs.

Augmented Reality

The

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

application, the Playroom comes pre-installed with the PlayStation 4 console. It was demonstrated at

E3 2013 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013 (E3 2013) was the 19th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California with many press conferences taking place at nearby venues including the Nokia Theate ...

and utilizes the Sony

PlayStation Camera The PlayStation Camera is a motion sensor and camera accessory for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the successor to the PlayStation Eye for the PlayStation 3, which was released in 2007. It ...

technology. According to Sony, it is a "fantastically fresh augmented reality entertainment experience", which has been created by combining the light bar located on the front of

DualShock 4 The DualShock (originally Dual Shock; trademarked as DUALSHOCK or DUAL SHOCK; with the PlayStation 5 version named DualSense) is a line of gamepads with vibration-feedback and analog controls developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the Pla ...

controller with the PlayStation Camera. Players are allowed to produce a small floating robot called Asobi, who interacts with the players, scans their faces and shoots fireballs. Once the PlayStation Camera identifies the player with the help of the light bar on the front, a flick on the touchpad of the DualShock 4 controller brings up the augmented reality Bots function of the PlayRoom, which creates the illusion that there are hundreds of little bots inside the controller, which can be released simply with a tap on the track pad that functions like the PlayStation Vita. PS4 owners can view their

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...

or PlayStation Vita for drawing the object and flick it anywhere for the augmented reality Bots to play with.

Remote Play and second screen

Through Remote Play users can operate their PS4 through the uses of a PlayStation Vita handheld game console, allowing for the play of PS4 games and other media on the small device via streaming. All games that do not require the PlayStation Move or PlayStation Camera are compatible. The second screen can be used to display unique content when playing games that support this option, but it should not be confused with a split-screen. The second screen may be used to show extra content like maps, alternate camera angles, radar or even playbooks in sports games. Apart from PlayStation Vita, other

mobile device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physica ...

s such as

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, ...

s or Android tablets can also be used as a second screen. That comes in the form of both the official PlayStation App and game companion apps such as Knack's Quest.

Social features

A heavy emphasis on social features has been placed on the PlayStation 4 console, loading up the PS4 with a number of share-centric apps and features. The hat's Newfeature, which allows users to check out their friends' latest activities via a landing page full of their pictures, trophies and other recent events, is an easy way to find out what friends have been up to. On the other hand, a cross-chat feature dubbed arty Chatis an interesting way to keep in touch. This gives gamers the ability to chat with other users whether or not they're playing the same title. The PS4's sharing capabilities adds another layer to console gaming. PS4 owners are able to capture or livestream the gameplay with a simple button touch. They can record up to 60 minutes of their latest gaming exploits with a quick press of the Share button on the controller. Footage can be shared on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and YouTube. They also have the ability to broadcast their gameplay in real-time to

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

and

Ustream IBM Watson Media (formerly Ustream and IBM Cloud Video) is an American virtual events platform company which is a division of IBM. Prior to IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest offices. ...

in addition to recording videos. There are also other social features such as community creation. Some of them are introduced via system updates. Favorite Groups is a new section within the Friends app, and acts as a way to quickly access other people a user plays with the most. This feature is aimed at making it easier and faster to get into a game session with friends. On the other hand, communities are new hubs that can be formed around shared interests like games, activities, or play styles. There also exist other smaller social features on PS4, such as the ability to message a friend with a request to watch their gameplay live.

Internet features

While the PlayStation 4 console can function without an

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

connection, it provides more functionality when it is connected to the Internet. For example, updates to the system software may be downloaded from the Internet, and users may play online when the Internet is properly connected.

Online play An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, an ...

is the main pillar for the PlayStation 4, but a

PlayStation Plus PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

subscription is required to play the majority of PS4 titles online, unlike PlayStation 3 titles. According to Sony, they are developing many new ways to play and connect for PS4 which requires a large investment of resources. As a result, Sony claim they cannot keep such a service free and maintain its quality at the same time considering the cost, and they thus decided that it would be better to charge a fee in order to continue to offer a good service. The

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...

included in the PlayStation 4 console is based on the open source

layout engine, unlike the PlayStation 3 which uses the NetFront browser. Using the same modern Webkit core as

Safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an impor ...

from

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

, the PS4 web browser receives a very high score in

HTML5 HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...

compliance testing. However, just like other major browsers, it does not support the deprecated

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Flash ...

, which means that websites which still require Flash might not display properly or function as intended. Also, the

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

format is not supported. However, one clear advantage for gamers is being able to cut between gaming and browsing and back again with no loss of gameplay due to the multitasking feature of the web browser. Additionally, while the PS4 web browser has limited support for USB keyboards, it does not seem to support USB mice at all. Furthermore, with Internet connection enabled the PlayStation 4 allows users to access a variety of

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smar ...

(PSN) services, including the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Plus subscription service, and more. Users may download or buy games and other content from these services. Also, gamers are able to play a selection of PS3 titles via the Internet-based PlayStation Now gaming service. PS Now is a cloud-based gaming subscription service from Sony Interactive.

Multimedia features

The PlayStation 4 supports playing standard 12-centimeter

DVD-Video DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs. DVD-Video was the dominant consumer home video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia in the 2000s until it was supplanted by the high-definition Blu- ...

discs;

DVD recordable DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('bur ...

and rewritable discs except those that have not been finalized; and standard Blu-ray discs with the exception of Blu-ray Recordable Erasable version 1.0 discs and Blu-ray XL format discs. Unlike all previous PlayStation consoles the system does not support the

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...

format at all, including

Compact Disc Digital Audio Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the ''Red Book'', one of a series of Rainbow Books (named ...

and

Video CD Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical discs. The format was widely adopted in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the ...

format discs.

Blu-ray 3D The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

support was added in system software version 1.75. In 2015, Sony partnered with

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active use ...

to bring the music streaming service to the PlayStation 4, allowing music to be streamed in the background of any game or application for both free and premium members of Spotify. The Media Player application included with the system can be used to play media files on USB storage devices or media servers. According to the PlayStation 4's user guide, media formats supported include videos contained in the MP4, MKV and AVI formats and encoded in H.264 AVC High Profile 4.2, MPEG4 ASP, MPEG2 Visual, AVCHD, and XAVC S; audio encoded in MP3, FLAC, or AAC; or AC-3 (Dolby Digital) and photos encoded in JPEG, BMP, or PNG. The PlayStation 4 Pro also supports videos encoded in H.264 AVC High Profile 5.2. If users have a PlayStation VR headset connected, they can view

360-degree video 360-degree videos, also known as surround video, or immersive videos or spherical videos, are video recordings where a view in every direction is recorded at the same time, shot using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras. During pl ...

s inside the headset.

Backward compatibility

The PlayStation 4 was not

backward compatible Backward compatibility (sometimes known as backwards compatibility) is a property of an operating system, product, or technology that allows for interoperability with an older legacy system, or with input designed for such a system, especially in ...

with any games from previous

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

consoles at launch. Though PlayStation 4 users cannot play PlayStation 3 games directly, in 2014, the PlayStation Now cloud-based streaming service allowed for the streaming of selected PS3 games. In December 2015, Sony added PlayStation 2 backward compatibility and republished some PS2 games such as ''

Dark Cloud is an action role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. Originally intended as a launch title for the system in March 2000, the game was eventually released in Japan in ...

'' and ''

Grand Theft Auto III ''Grand Theft Auto III'' is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 1999's ''Grand Theft Auto 2'', and the fifth instalment o ...

'', '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'', and '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' on the PS4 via the

PlayStation Store The PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital media store available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The store offers a range of downloadable conten ...

in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Supported PS2 games run via

software emulation In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run so ...

(upscaled to high definition) on PS4 systems instead of having been remastered. Each one has been updated to access various PS4 features, including Trophies, Share Play, Broadcasting, Remote Play and second-screen features. However, the original PS2 game discs, and PS2 Classics re-released for the PS3 are not compatible with the PS4 system.

History of updates

The initial version of the system software for the PlayStation 4 is 1.01 as pre-installed on the original consoles. Support for the Remote Play and second screen experiences were added in version 1.50, which was launched on the same day the PlayStation 4 console itself was released in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

on November 15, 2013. Both features are accessible from the PlayStation Vita console by using its PS4 Link application, and the second screen functionality is also accessible from smartphones and

tablet Tablet may refer to: Medicine * Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill" Computing * Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the ...

s through the

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_playback,_and_version_1.60_was_released_on_February_4,_2014,_improving_DVD_playback._Version_1.60_also_adds_support_for_Pulse_Elite_wireless_Headset_(audio).html" ;"title="pdate: Press release added Joystiq. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.) was a software framework us ...