Better xCloud
Improve Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) experience on web browser.
The main target of this script is Android users, but it should work great on desktop too.
Features
- Switch region of streaming server.
- Prefer IPv6 streaming server (might reduce latency).
- Force HD stream by disabling bandwidth checking -> xCloud always tries to use the best possible quality.
- Skip Xbox splash video.
- Make the top-left dots icon invisible while playing. You can still click on it, but it doesn't block the screen anymore.
- Stretch video to full sctreen. Useful when you don't have a 16:9 screen.
- Adjust video filters (brightness/contrast/saturation).
- Hide footer and other UI elements.
- Reduce UI animations (the smooth scrolling cannot be disabled).
- Disable social features (friends, chat...).
- Disable xCloud analytics. The analytics contains statistics of your streaming session, so I'd recommend to allow analytics to help Xbox improve xCloud's experence in the future.
How to use
- Install Tampermonkey extension on suppported browsers. It's also available for Firefox on Android.
- Install Better xCloud:
- Refresh xCloud web page.
- Click on the new "SERVER NAME" button next to your profile picture to adjust settings.
- Optional but recommended: change your browser's User-Agent. Check the User-Agent section below for more info.
- Don't forget to reload the page after changing settings.
User-Agent
Optional, as changing User-Agent won't guarantee a better streaming experience, but it's worth a try. You might need to install an external extension to do that.
It's recommended to change User-Agent to:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/114.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 Edg/114.0.1823.67
This will trick xCloud into thinking you're using Edge browser on desktop.
Other options (only do one of these):
- Add
smarttvto switch to Smart TV layout. - Add
Xbox;to become an Xbox console. - Add
36102dd3-6953-45f6-8b48-031fb95e0e0dto become a Logitech G Cloud device. - Add
0ed22b6f-b61d-41eb-810a-a1ed586a550bto become a Razer Edge device.
Compatibility
✅ = confirmed to be working
❓ = not yet tested
❌ = not supported (mostly because of lacking Userscript/extension support)
⚠️ = see custom notes
| Desktop | Android | iOS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Firefox | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Edge | ❓ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Safari | ❓ | ❌ | ❓ |
| Hermit | ❌ | ⚠️(1) | ❌ |
1 NOT RECOMMENDED at the moment since its Userscript implementation is not working properly. Non-network related features (skip splash video, video settings...) still work. It's still my favorite app to play xCloud on because it's lightweight, supports both custom User-Agent and Userscript (premium features, only $7.99) without having to install anything else. I built Better xCloud just so I could use it with Hermit.
FAQ
-
Why is it an Userscript and not extension?
It's because not many browsers on Android support installing extensions (and not all extensions can be installed). -
I see "???" button instead of server's name
That means Tampermonkey is not working properly. Please make sure you're using the latest version or switch to a well-known browser. -
Can I use this with the Xbox Android app?
No you can't. You'll have to modify the app. -
Will you able to enable "Clarity Boost" feature on non-Edge browsers?
No. "Clarity Boost" feature uses an exclusive API (Video.msVideoProcessing) that's only available on Edge browser for desktop at the moment.
Acknowledgements
Better xCloud is inspired by these projects:
Disclaimers
- Use as your own risk.
- This project is not affiliated with Xbox in any way. All Xbox logos/icons/trademarks are copyright of their respective owners.