Discord on Xbox won’t need a phone soon

Microsoft is making Discord voice calls way better on Xbox soon by removing a big annoyance. You won’t have to use a phone to connect to Discord voice chats anymore in an upcoming update, allowing Xbox owners to connect directly to calls in servers. This will make it a lot easier to just connect to Discord servers and start chatting with friends.

Xbox Insiders on the Alpha and Skip-Ahead Alpha rings can start testing these changes today, and they allow you to browse all voice channels across all the Discord servers you’re in. Connecting no longer requires you to transfer the call with the Xbox or Discord mobile apps, and once your account is linked for the first time, you can freely join straight from your Xbox.

The only thing that’s missing now is the ability to participate in Discord text channels from Xbox. It’s not clear whether Microsoft and Discord will ever add this functionality, but at least the voice experience is being greatly improved. The only reason you’ll need your phone now is if you want to do a direct Discord call to a friend instead of chatting in a server. That will still require the mobile app to transfer the call to your Xbox.

Like any other Xbox dashboard updates, I’d expect this will roll out to all Xbox owners in the coming weeks.