- Nintendo Switch firmware update 16.0.0 is available
- The most visible novelty is the possibility to change the username
- According to the release notes, the update also brings, as almost always, improvements for stability and performance.
Nintendo continues to nurture the Nintendo Switch ecosystem – and one thing that’s unmistakable is the regularity with which the company has released system updates for the console since its release in 2017. In most cases, Nintendo remains quite vague about what its updates really contain.
The term that comes up most often in the release notes is “stability and performance improvements”. But occasionally Nintendo offers real novelties, more or less visible or affecting more or less the user experience. Alongside the official release notes, which are often a little sketchy, more complete information is sometimes available thanks to additional details from Nintendo or in some cases from the efforts of reverse engineering of hackers and hackers.
Nintendo Switch 16.0.0: what new features does the update bring?
Nintendo is not always logical with its version numbers. For example, firmware “major release” 14.0.0 (March 21, 2022), had three “minor releases” 14.1 (14.1.0, 14.1.1, 14.1.2). However, judge for yourself: version 14.0.0 has brought a real novelty – the possibility of grouping your games to find them more easily.
Since this version, you can create groups by genre, studio, or any other criteria, within the limit of 100 groups with a maximum of 200 games per group. A new “All Software” button appears when there are more than 13 software icons. Also the behavior of bluetooth audio volume has changed (provided your device supports AVRCP profiles).
The volume set on the console now reflects your headset volume – and the console buttons change all levels at the same time. Then comes a first version 14.1 only three weeks later. This added new notification settings for points collected in Nintendo Switch Online missions.
Then the next three builds (14.1) each time had the same release notes – “general system stability improvements to enhance user experience”- without further details. The last “14.1” was version 14.1.2 with the same release notes. Then on October 10, 2022, Nintendo pushed the 15.0.0 update with new features but nothing so major.
The general design of the system has not evolved. Version 15 simply brings a change in the location of the bluetooth settings, the possibility of taking screenshots via the physical button of the console from the Nintendo Switch Online application (but still no video capture).
Then we went directly to version 16.0.0 on February 21, 2023, without any intermediate version. This brings only small minor novelties. Especially around the name of the users. The idea was for Nintendo to fight against offensive names, insulting or advocating hatred, racism or homophobia.
With this release, Nintendo replaces offensive names with “???” and allows users to change their username via profile settings in system settings. This novelty is accompanied by a usual “general system stability improvement to enhance user experience”.
How to Install the Nintendo Switch 16.0.0 Update
Installing this update is not mandatory. In fact, if you have jailbroken your console, it is probably even advisable to wait a bit – just to be sure you can continue to use your device as you wish. The latest version of jailbreakable firmware is Nintendo Switch system version 15.0.0:
However if you use your console without jailbreak, there is no reason to wait any longer:
- Go to menu Home and select Console Settings
- Go into Console
- Go into Console Update
The Nintendo Switch then connects to the company’s servers and checks if an update is available. If the 16.0.0 update is available for your device, the download will start and the firmware installation will take place next automatically.
