So I've gotten to play around with the new update. The system seems a little more smoother and stable. And some of the loading times between apps seems to be shorter. Not all of them, I don't think. But it's noticeable on some. I'm still trying everything out.
As I said before, when the system restarts, it begins by telling you about the Spotpass feature. Also, once it's up and running, you can't go online until you agree to the new terms and conditions. All basic stuff in there. Once you click agree to the new terms and conditions, you are back in business.
I checked out Miiverse, and there's a new loading screen. This time, there's a globe, with different Mii's on it. And where the Mii's are standing on the globe, there are different times, with the name of the city that they are. Different cities from all around the world. Also, your real time is on the globe itself, and it's much bigger than the other times. So there's no mistaking what time is your time. So that was cool.
I tried the eShop, and that has a new loading screen as well. There's an image of a game, and it continues to cycle through different titles. Also, the menu list on the left side is different. Instead of saying "Front Page" on top, it now says "eShop Home". And instead of saying "Menu" next, it says "My Menu", with a picture of your Mii. So there have definitely been some tweaks.
The Friend's List has been added to the main screen, next to the other icons on the bottom of the screen, like Miiverse and the eShop and the rest. So that'll save you from having to hit the Home button to gain access to the Friend's List. So that's a nice change.
I tried out the Youtube app, and it's working smoothly, and quickly. Perfectly, I'd say.
I even went to youtube.com in the Internet Browser, and it was as smooth as ever there. In fact, I think that the Internet browser is faster now. At least, it seems to be for me. I went to about 10 websites, and they all loaded up pretty quickly. So that's cool. The Internet Browser didn't have any noticeable "cosmetic" differences, like Miiverse and the eShop did. But it did seem to load webpages faster.
Also, the Internet Browser can still play video files straight off of my computer. Since the Wii U was first launched, I set it up so that I could open up the Internet Browser, and us it to play video files straight from my computer to the Wii U. It plays the videos on both, the tv screen, and the Gamepad. Which is great. So I use that a lot. Lots of time I'll play a video file onto my Gamepad, and have the Gamepad on it's stand, on my desk. Then, I can be online on my computer, while watching videos from my computer on my Gamepad, and, still keep my tv free for watching tv or movies or whatever. So I'm glad that that still works.
Netflix has an update now. I used it yesterday, and it just started right up. Then, just a little bit ago, I tried it just to try it, after the update, and it downloaded an update. So either Netflix added an update today, or Nintendo made an update for it, based on this new system update. But it's a small, quick update. Once that's done, it's smooth sailing, like normal.
The System Settings menu looks the same. I didn't notice anything different in there. Tho I only did a quick glance at that. Didn't do an indepth search of it. I also haven't tried everything yet. I haven't tried the Daily Activity Log or Wii U Chat yet. Tho I'm not expecting any changes there. I did try out Wii Street U, but that's the same as it was after the last update, which was announced during the last Nintendo Direct.
Nintendo TVii seems a little faster, and seems to respond better. So that's good. But I didn't sit and try to post on it, or see how fast new images show up as a show or game is playing. I just browsed through the menu and different categories. I'll put more time into this app later. But the first impressions is that it seems smoother.
Some of the games seem to load up a little quicker, and close back to the Wii U Main Menu Screen a little quicker too. Not all of them. But some of them. However, speaking of games...
... you can play Wii games on your Wii U Gamepad. That is, when you start a Wii game from the Wii Menu, you can choose to have the Wii game play directly on the tv alone, or, stream to both the tv and Gamepad. Then, with a Wiimote/nunchuck combo, or, a Classic Controller attached to a Wiimote, (no Gamecube controller tho), you can play the game normally, but look at either your tv or gamepad screen. Thus, you can play the game while using your Gamepad as your monitor. So you can change your channel or whatever, on your tv, and use your Gamepad as your monitor to play Wii games on. So there's that.
-----
I'm still checking out more stuff. Again, if I find an official list of what all of the changes are, I'll post it here. In the meantime, feel free to post your thoughts and impressions of any and all changes that you can find.
