One feature that was included on the PlayStation 4 which didnāt get carried over to PS5, was the web browser. Given that most of us who have a PS5 also have a smartphone, computer, or a tablet, it's not essential. In fact, a slightly awkward-to-use web browser on your PlayStation doesn't necessarily feel like something we would miss too much.
Having said that, despite Sony explicitly stating there's no dedicated web browser app, they haven't been telling the full story. If you know where to look, there just might be way to load websites via your PS5. If you want to, that is.
Here are the details.
The secret of the hidden web browser
No, it's not the title of the next Indiana Jones movie. It turns out that even though Sony haven't provided a dedicated web browser, their crafty engineers/tech magicians still slipped in a browser that can facilitate internet access. Primarily, this was intended to connect to Sony's online PS5 manual. But some clever people have found that in addition to this most basic functionality, it is possible to force your way onto the wider world wide web.
It utilizes a back door onto Twitter, and from there, you can click on links in Twitter to access different websites. The key thing in all this, is that there is no search bar, so you can't use it like you would a conventional browser like Chrome or Firefox, for example. It also appears that the functionality is limited; video sites load, but without sound, while music streaming sites won't stream audio either.
So with all that in mind, it probably isn't the quickest, easiest or most practical way of going online. But if, for some reason, a scenario happens to you where you desperately need to get online, but have somehow managed to lose all the other technology in your life that can give you internet access, then this is what you need to know.
How to access the internet on the PS5
So you've read and understood the limitations of internet browsing on the PS5, and you've decided that this is still your preferred method of going online. Here's how you do it:
- Start by going to the Users and Accounts menu.
- Select Link with Other Services
- Select to link to a Twitter account. But do not log into Twitter at this point.
- Click on the small Twitter logo in the top corner, and this will divert you to the regular Twitter desktop-interface.
- Now you can log-in to your Twitter feed.
By doing this, you can click on any links that you find on Twitter, you'll arrive the linked website. It's a pretty unwieldy way of doing things. But one day, in an incredibly specific scenario, it might just save your life.
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