Sony is rolling out PS5 system software update 25.08-12.40.00 for December 2025 starting early this morning, and it’s the least exciting update of the year. From the looks of it, the company wants to plug some vulnerabilities and exploits ahead of the holiday.

PS5 system software update 25.08-12.40.00 patch notes (December 3, 2025)

Complete patch notes for today’s update are as follows:

• We’ve improved the messages and usability on some screens.
• We’ve improved system software performance and stability.

Do note that this update is being released in phases, so if you’re not being prompted to update your PS5 firmware, there’s nothing to worry about.

Speaking of messages and usability, Sony has quietly made some changes to the PSN messaging system, introducing the ability to see when players are typing messages, the ability to delete sent messages, and read receipts.

The new features are available both on the console and the latest version of PS App. However, as we pointed out recently, read receipts are turned on by default, so if you’re concerned about privacy, make sure to turn them off by following the steps we outlined in this article.

We’ll update our readers if players notice any stealth changes in today’s PS5 firmware update.

The post New PS5 System Update Released But Don’t Get Your Hopes Up appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Sony is beta testing a PS5 feature update that should please fans who have been begging for better UI personalization. While we don’t expect the PS5 to ever match PS4’s socialization and customization options, it’s nice to see these baby steps towards a better UI experience.

New PS5 personalization feature update should make players happy

As spotted by YouTuber Mystic, Sony has added two new features to the PS5 Welcome Hub for select participants:

1. Showcase Mode: When your PS5 is idle, widgets disappear to reveal a full view of the background.
2. Slideshow: the background cycles through images from an album you select.

These beta features are available for a limited time and can be turned on via the Welcome Hub settings menu.

Frankly, I’m surprised that the Showcase Mode wasn’t introduced with the Welcome Hub. One of the first things players noticed was that the widgets hid background images, and the only solution was to remove as many widgets as possible and rearrange them in crafty ways.

Thankfully, we no longer have to do that. Both the Showcase and Slideshow modes are essentially screensavers, and with the latter, players can put all those beautiful in-game Photo Mode images they take to good use.

Again, these aren’t groundbreaking features and nothing like the PS4 themes, but we’re slowly getting there, it seems.

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