9. Exploring Social Apps

In this chapter, you discover how to use Facebook and Twitter on your Xbox 360 and learn about Halo Waypoint, a prime destination for Halo fans.

• Installing and Using Facebook

• Using Twitter

• Enlisting with Halo Waypoint

The Social Apps block under the Social channel provides access to services and features intended to enhance your sense of community. It is your portal to the two largest social networking services in existence: Facebook and Twitter. You can access Video Kinect here as well, which is discussed in Chapter 11, “Using Kinect.” Although not housed under the Social channel, Halo Waypoint serves as an example of a game-based social app that can be used to access the extensive Halo community. If you are a fan of the Halo games, Halo Waypoint is your central hub for content related to this franchise. In this chapter, you learn how to use Facebook and Twitter on your Xbox 360, and, as a representative example of an alternative social app, the various features of Halo Waypoint.

Connecting and Sharing with Facebook

Facebook is the big kahuna among social networking services, with approximately 800 million active users as of December 2011. If you have an Xbox LIVE Gold membership, you can access your Facebook account through your Xbox 360. This access enables you to see your friends’ photos, post your gamer scores, invite friends to play games, update your status, and comment on your friends’ updates.

Setting Up Facebook

Before you can access Facebook, you must download the application that enables it to run on your Xbox 360. Follow these steps to set up Facebook on your console:

1. Select the Social Apps block from the Social channel.

2. At the Social Apps screen, select Facebook.

3. When the download completes and the Active Downloads screen appears, press the B button on your controller, and then select Facebook from the Social Apps screen.

4. At the Welcome to Facebook on Xbox LIVE! screen, press A to log into your account. When prompted, enter the username or email address and password for your Facebook account and select Log in To My Facebook Account when your information is complete.

5. Choose how you want to set Display My Xbox LIVE Info: If you select Yes, your Gamertag appears next to your name on Facebook, but only when your profile is accessed through Xbox LIVE.

6. Choose how you want to set Automatically Log In: If you select Yes, you can automatically sign into your Facebook account when you start Facebook on your Xbox 360 console. If you opt not to log in automatically, you need to go through steps 4–6 of this process each time before you can access your account. Therefore, automatic log in is recommended.

7. After you make your selections, scroll to Save Settings and press A to select it.

General Controls

When you are on any of the main Facebook menus (that is, Home, Photos, Friends, or Profile), the controller options are as follows, as shown at the bottom of the screen:

• A button—Selects a highlighted option

• B button—Takes you back to a previous screen

• X button—Enables you to update your status

• Y button—Enables you to log out of Facebook

After you make a selection from any of the main menus, the functionality of the X and Y buttons changes. When a selection under the Photos menu is made, pressing the X Button launches a slideshow. When selecting News Feed – Photos from the Home menu, the X button enables you to comment on a photo by launching the onscreen keyboard. In submenus, the Y button takes you to Facebook Home, so if you are deep into submenus, pressing this button transports you back to the main menu, whereas pressing the B button just takes you back to the previous screen. The function of all buttons is always clearly indicated on the bottom of the screen, so you are never left wondering what will happen if you press a particular button.

Exploring the Menus

There are four main menus: Home, Photos, Friends, and Profile. Unlike on a computer, all items display horizontally, which is in keeping with Xbox LIVE menu navigation, but may take some getting used to. Now explore each of the menus more closely:

• Home—The Home menu has three main options: News Feed, Status, and News Feed – Photos. In addition, if you are subscribed to any specific news feeds on Facebook (such as that of an employer, alma mater, or company you like to keep tabs on), there are blocks enabling access to each of those feeds as well. Select News Feed to view your Facebook News Feed and comment on someone’s status. Choose Status to update your own status. Select News Feed – Photos to view and comment on posts from your Facebook News Feed that include photos.

• Photos—The Photos menu has two options: [Your Name Here] Photos and Friends Photos. Whether you choose to view your photos or those of your friends, you can opt to have them display in a slideshow. When the slideshow launches, a slideshow navigation bar briefly appears. If you want to get it back during the slideshow, press anywhere on your D-pad. Basic slideshow controls are outlined in the figure.

• Friends—The Friends menu has three options: Friends, Facebook Friends on Xbox LIVE, and Xbox LIVE Friends on Facebook. Selecting Friends enables you to scroll through your Facebook Friends. After you make a selection, you can then elect to view your friend’s Status, Photos, Wall, Mutual Friends, and Info. Selecting Facebook Friends on Xbox LIVE pulls up your Friends on Facebook who have an Xbox LIVE account, whereas the Xbox LIVE Friends on Facebook pulls up your Xbox LIVE friends who have a Facebook account. Individuals who you are friends with on only one platform can be invited to become your friend on the other. You can view the Facebook or Xbox LIVE Profile for any individuals you are friends with on both platforms, as demonstrated in the figure; however, only your Xbox LIVE friends can be invited to play games.

• Profile—The Profile menu has five options: Status, [Your Name Here] Photos, Wall, Info, and Settings. Selecting Status enables you to update your status by launching the onscreen keyboard. Choosing [Your Name Here] Photos is another entry point to view your photos, which are sorted the same way as under the Photos menu, enabling you to view all your photos, just your profile pictures, mobile uploads, Webcam photos, wall photos, and special albums or collections. Selecting Wall enables you to view your Facebook Wall and Like or Comment on any posts, as shown in the figure. Choosing Info pulls up your profile information; however, you can only view it, not edit it. Selecting Settings enables you to adjust how you log into Facebook on Xbox LIVE and whether your Xbox LIVE Gamertag appears in your Facebook profile information (see steps 6 and 7 in “Setting Up Facebook”).

Updating Your Status

Updating your status lets your contacts know what you are up to. Follow these steps to give them the scoop:

1. From one of the main Xbox interface screens, press X on your controller to update your status.

2. At the Update Status screen, enter your update and select Done.

3. Your status is now updated and can be viewed under Status in the Profile blade.

Launching a Slideshow

You can launch a slideshow of your photos or your friend’s photos. Follow these steps:

1. Scroll to Photos.

2. Select whether you want to view your photos or your friends’ photos. Proceed to step 3 if you select your photos, or step 4 if you select your friends’ photos.

3. Your Photos: Scroll to the blade that contains the photos you want to see in a slideshow and press X on your controller to launch the slideshow. See “Exploring the Menus” earlier in this chapter for slideshow controls.

4. Friends’ Photos: Select the friend whose photos you want to view (see figure) and press A on your controller to access his or her photo repository. On your friend’s Photos page, scroll to the blade that contains the photos you want to view in a slideshow and press X on your controller to launch the slideshow. See “Exploring the Menus” earlier in this chapter for slideshow controls.

Adding Facebook Friends to Xbox LIVE

Follow these steps to add Facebook Friends to Xbox LIVE:

1. Scroll to Friends.

2. Select the Facebook Friends on Xbox LIVE block.

3. On the Friend Linker page, scroll to the Facebook Friend you want to add to your Xbox LIVE friends and press A to add him or her.

4. At the Friend Request screen, select Send Request. You can attach an optional voice message. Turn to “Incorporating Voice Mail” in Chapter 8, “Getting Social with Friends,” if you need assistance with adding a voice message. Once your friend accepts, he or she is added to your Xbox LIVE friends and you can find his or her avatar on the Friends block in the Social channel.

Enabling Facebook Sharing

Facebook Sharing enables you to brag about your achievements to your Facebook friends using direct posts. This action occurs outside of the Facebook app—you cannot yet share achievements in real-time; the game must be exited first. Follow these steps to share your achievement(s):

1. Select your avatar from the Social channel to access your profile.

2. Select the Achievements block from your profile screen.

3. Scroll to the block for the game that has the achievement you want to share and press A to select it.

4. At the Achievements screen, scroll to the achievement you want to share and press X to share it.

5. At the Facebook screen, select Share. If you select Add Message, you can personalize your post before sharing your achievement with your Facebook friends.

6. Your post now appears on your Facebook page.

Sharing and Discovering with Twitter

Twitter is another social media powerhouse, with approximately 300 million users. You can use Twitter on your console to post updates and communicate with those you follow. Unlike with Facebook or Halo Waypoint, you don’t need to download an app to access it, but you do need to have an Xbox 360 hard drive or storage device with at least 5 megabytes of available space (not very much), an Xbox LIVE Gold membership, and an existing Twitter account to log into. You should also consider getting a keyboard or the Xbox Chatpad, like the one discussed in Chapter 3, “Personalizing Your Xbox Experience,” to facilitate entering text. Now feel free to get your tweet on!

Signing Into Twitter

Before you can start tweeting via your Xbox 360, you have to sign into your Twitter account on your console. Follow these steps for the initial sign-in and for subsequent sign-ins if you opt not to have Xbox LIVE automatically log you into your account upon launching the Twitter application on your console (see step 5).

1. Select Social Apps from the Social channel.

2. Select Twitter from the Social Apps screen.

3. Enter your Twitter username or email address and password and select Sign In.

4. Choose how you want to set the Display My Xbox LIVE Info. If you select Yes, your Gamertag appears next to your name on Twitter—but only when your profile is accessed through Xbox LIVE.

5. Choose how you want to set Automatically Sign In. If you select Yes, you are automatically signed into your Twitter account when you start Twitter on your Xbox 360.

6. After you make your selections, scroll to Save Settings, and press A.

Getting a Handle on the Interface

Now that you have accessed the Twitter interface, explore the key functions and options.

Setting a Status

Besides viewing other tweets, setting a status is probably the number one thing you do on Twitter. To let the world know what you’re up to, follow these steps:

1. When on the main Twitter page, press X on your controller or select What Are You Doing? from the left menu.

2. At the New Tweet screen, enter your status. After you reach 140 characters, you can no longer enter text and need to pare down your status. Select Done when you’re finished.

Searching for Topics and People to Follow

To look for tweets on a particular topic, conduct a Search. This enables you to locate recent tweets on that topic from the Twitter community on Xbox LIVE, not just individuals you currently follow. It can also help you locate new individuals to follow.

1. From within the Twitter app, select Search.

2. At the Search Tweets screen, input what you want to search for. Using a keyword instead of a string of words generally yields the best results. Select Done to see your search results.

3. If you find an interesting post from someone you want to follow, you can do so from the Search Results for [Your Key Word] screen. Select the post from the individual/entity you’re interested in following.

4. At the next screen, select the Profile for that individual/entity.

5. At the final screen, select Follow.

Replying to or Retweeting Posts

Whether you want to reply to and/or retweet a post by someone you are following or an individual who turns up in a search result, follow these steps:

1. Select the post you want to reply to or retweet and then follow steps 2 to 4 for the former or steps 5 to 7 for the latter.

2. From the next screen, select Reply.

3. At the Reply to Tweet screen, enter your message and select Done.

4. After a Reply Successful screen appears, your reply is posted.

5. Select Retweet.

6. At the Retweet screen, add to or modify the post to suit your fancy and select Done.

7. A Retweet Successful screen appears and your retweet is now posted.

Make a Tweet a Favorite

When you make a tweet a favorite, it bookmarks that tweet for you, enabling you to view it in the future. You can favorite any tweet, whether it is your own, those of individuals/entities you follow, or those from accounts who come up in a general or trending topics search. To favorite a tweet, select the post you want to favorite and follow these steps:

1. From the screen that appears, select Favorite This Tweet. A star then appears next to the prior Favorite This Tweet option. If you want to undo the action, just select Unfavorite This Tweet. (This menu option appears in place of the Favorite This Tweet item.)

2. To view your favorite tweets, select your Twitter username from the main interface.

3. At your profile screen, select Favorites.

4. The next screen shows your Favorites. Selecting any of these tweets gives you all the usual options, such as replying and retweeting.

Viewing Trending Topics

Trending Topics is an algorithm built into Twitter that identifies topics that are immediately popular, enabling you to discover the latest news from Twitter users worldwide. Follow these steps to view Trending Topics on your Xbox:

1. Select Trending Topics from the main Twitter interface.

2. At the Trending Topics screen, scroll through and select any topic you are interested in seeing tweets on.

3. After you make a selection, tweets for that particular topic appear. If you select a tweet, all the usual actions become available: Reply, Retweet, access users Profile, and Favorite This Tweet.

Enlisting with Halo Waypoint

If you’re not interested in Halo or do not own any of the games, it is futile to enlist with Halo Waypoint, and you’re free to take leave of this section. However, if you’re a fan of the Halo games, you should sign up for Halo Waypoint, which provides access to a plethora of Halo-related content, including Machinima videos, gameplay strategies and tutorials, access to and tracking of your gameplay-related data across Halo games, and a host of special weekly features, such as behind-the-scenes previews.

To access all of Halo Waypoint’s features, you need to be an Xbox LIVE Gold member. Halo Waypoint is a free download, and if you have a Windows Phone, iOS device or Android device, you can also enable Halo Waypoint on any of them. Of course, Halo Waypoint is also accessible to anyone online at http://halo.xbox.com/en-us, but downloading the application to your Xbox 360 gives you access to a more comprehensive experience because some content is available exclusively on the console.

Downloading Halo Waypoint

Although Halo Waypoint can best be described as a social app with its myriad social features, it is actually located under the Games channel. This is likely because while it is not a game, it is solely dedicated to the Halo franchise and enhancing and extending the gaming experience for Halo enthusiasts. Follow these steps to accomplish your mission of downloading Halo Waypoint:

1. Go to the Games channel and select the Game Marketplace block.

2. Scroll to the Games category and select the A-Z block. At the Titles A to Z screen, scroll to H and select it.

3. Scroll to the cover for Halo Waypoint and select it.

4. At the Halo Waypoint screen, select the Free Download block. When prompted, select Confirm Download and select it.

5. After the download is complete and the Active Downloads screen appears, press B to go back, and then select the Play Now block to access Halo Waypoint.

6. When the Halo Waypoint screen appears, press the Start or A button on your controller to enter. You are now in Halo Waypoint and are free to explore the terrain.

Exploring the Halo Waypoint Interface

When you access Halo Waypoint, an abundance of features are available. These features are constantly changing, some daily and others weekly. In addition to some advertising blocks and access to the Halo Store, the content and features you might encounter on your Halo Waypoint deployment include:

• Reach Challenges—Enter this block and you can embark on both a designated weekly and daily challenge. Timelines note how much time is left to complete a particular challenge.

• What’s New—As the name implies, selecting this block gives you access to the newest content on Halo Waypoint, including videos and screenshots. Although these videos and screenshots also appear in other areas on Halo Waypoint, this portal ensures you don’t miss a thing.

• Community—This section is devoted to videos and screenshots created by Halo fans. In addition, you can learn about various gaming events and access recaps of such events.

• Your Profile—When you select your profile, it launches a Career screen. Your achievements, career milestones, awards, and progress on any Reach Challenges are outlined here. As you earn achievements in the series, you unlock Avatar awards.

• This Week on Waypoint—This provides a bulleted list outlining the events and featured content on Halo Waypoint for a particular week.

• Latest Galleries—This features images created by the Halo community, whether of a memorable event during the game or an environment created in Forge, a gameplay mode in some Halo games that enables users to play and edit multiplayer maps.

• Player Card Compare—This enables you to compare your stats with your Halo teammates, but only if they are online and enlisted in Halo Waypoint.

• The Universe—This provides an overview of the Halo universe through videos and screenshots. Areas covered include the ships, vehicles, weapons, factions, characters, events, locations, and technology featured in Halo.

• Latest Videos—Just like the What’s New gives you access to the newest content on Halo Waypoint, Latest Videos provides easy access to the most recently posted videos on Halo Waypoint.

• Games—This provides an overview of the various Halo games, including Halo 4; Halo: Anniversary; Halo: Reach; Halo 3: ODST; Halo Wars; Halo 3; Halo 2; and Halo: Combat Evolved.

Going Mobile with Halo Waypoint

On December 10, 2011, Microsoft launched the Halo Waypoint app for Windows Phone, Android, and iOS devices. This app is free and essentially provides access to the same information as is available on the console, ensuring you have convenient access to all things Halo while you are out and about.

If the Halo Waypoint app does not satisfy your Halo fix, you can consider a premium Halo app dubbed “ATLAS,” which stands for Assisted Tactical Assault System. Through ATLAS, Halo gamers can tap directly into their Halo: Reach or Halo: Anniversary matches, providing them with near real-time data during ongoing games. For example, ATLAS provides access to information such as the locations of health packs, weapons, and vehicles, and it can plot out your and your teammates’ location on Halo maps; thus, your phone can become another powerful weapon in your Halo gaming arsenal. As you move through levels on the console, you can consult your phone for in-game data that can help you devise your next strategy. ATLAS is free for Windows Phone users but costs $4.99 for use on Android or iOS devices.

More information on the Halo Waypoint app can be found for Windows Phone at http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/79c9f9c8-ace7-df11-9264-00237de2db9e, for Android devices at https://market.android.com/details?id=com.halo.companion, or for iOS devices at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/halo-waypoint/id468457600?mt=8.