A first look at Xbox running Discord and Google Stadia in its new Edge browser

Microsoft has started testing a new version of its Edge browser on Xbox consoles. The software giant provided access to the Chromium version of Edge to Xbox Insiders earlier this month, offering a preview of the enhanced navigation capabilities to come on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S. got a chance to give it a try so early over the past few days, and got to test out Discord, Stadia, and other web services running inside Edge on the Xbox. It’s like having the full version of Edge from a PC on your TV.

The Xbox version of Edge is almost identical to what you can find on PC or Mac right now. It even includes features like vertical tabs and collections. Like Edge on PC and mobile, the Xbox version also syncs all of your settings, bookmarks, tabs, and web history.

Support for extensions is the one big feature that’s really missing right now. I’m not sure if this is a general restriction with the Xbox version or if Microsoft could implement it once this version of Chromium is ready for release. Either way, if you try to add a Chrome or Edge extension, it will fail.

The main reason you might want to use this new version of Edge on the Xbox is the vastly improved web compatibility. This allows services like Discord, Skype, or even Google Stadia to work on the Xbox version of Edge. Discord will let you join voice calls and participate in text channel chats, but microphone support is not there yet. This is a very old version, so it is likely that it will eventually be supported. Likewise, if you switch to another game or app, Discord calls in the Edge browser do not continue in the background. That may also change before this Edge update is also widely available.

Google Stadia works great. I was able to stream multiple games using the service, and the Xbox controller is automatically detected and supported in games. I have also tried using Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service, but Nvidia seems to be blocking the Edge user agent channel, and there are no developer tools or extensions that will allow me to ‘spoof the Chrome user agent.

Elsewhere, I have also tested Office web apps in this Xbox version of Edge. They work as reliably as you would like, and you can even connect a keyboard to the Xbox and type remotely. Unfortunately, mouse support is not yet available in this Edge browser. This appears to be part of a wider restriction on Xbox apps accessing a mouse on Microsoft consoles, so it’s unclear if this will be fully supported in the future.

Edge on Xbox is currently based on Chromium 91, which is slated to debut on desktop versions of Edge in May. However, Microsoft has not revealed when it plans to release this Xbox version.

This Edge browser is already a big improvement over the legacy version that exists on Xbox today. Full sync support, web compatibility, and general interface are greatly improved. While Xbox usually gets dedicated streaming apps for most services, this Edge update will come in handy for those who want to access all the web has to offer.