One of the more exciting aspects of the new console generation is how quickly the systems operate. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S load games incredibly fast because of their solid state drives, and the new speed allows users to quickly swap between open applications. Both consoles have features designed to help players switch games and apps quickly, but Xbox's Quick Resume has the leg up on PlayStation's Switcher.
One of the icons on the PlayStation 5's Control Center menu, accessed by pressing the PS button, is called the Switcher. Selecting it brings up a list of the most recent apps used. If currently using a game or media app, it will be listed at the top. Underneath the open application will be the two most recent games, followed by the two most recent media apps. Although it does have some quick-load capabilities, the Switcher is essentially just a way for users to jump between applications without going to the Home Screen.
The Xbox Series X/S, on the other hand, uses its Quick Resume feature much more impressively. The console is able to keep save states of Quick Resume-compatible games at the time they're closed so that they don't need to be entirely restarted after another app is used. When a compatible game is being launched in a save state with Quick Resume, a notification will appear in the upper right corner during a very short load period. The console is able to hold three save states at a time. Navigating to the Xbox's My Games & Apps section will let users filter by Quick Resume games, but, in practice, it simply suspends the three most recently played games, which should already be accessible after pressing the Xbox button to bring up the Guide.
How Xbox's Quick Resume & PS5's Switcher Operate Differently
Without this save state system, the PlayStation 5's Switcher essentially relies only on its short load times alone to make swapping apps less cumbersome. The console is only capable of having one PS5 game and one PS5 entertainment app open at a time, so there's no option to switch immediately between multiple games. Going from a game currently being played to a media app and back again will only require a bit of waiting, but choosing any other software on the PS5 will start that application from a closed state. The Switcher simply complements the SSD, giving users a way to quickly select their recently used applications but not quickly use them.
The Xbox Series X/S uses Quick Resume to suspend multiple games, basically remembering where the game left off before it was suspended. The game is shut down and is not using any of the Xbox's computing power, but the console is able to start from exactly where it left off. That said, Quick Resume does nothing for media apps. Still, if users are interested in trying out multiple games in quick succession - perfect for Xbox Game Pass sampling - Xbox Series X/S allows quicker access than PlayStation 5.