PS4 tips and tricks: The 5 best hacks for your PlayStation 4 in 2016

• Best PS4 tips and tricks
• How to stream PS4 games to a Mac or PC
• How to use Share Play on a PS4
• How to gameshare on a PS4
• How to upgrade a PS4 hard drive
• How to change NAT type on PS4
• How to boot up a PS4 in Safe Mode
• How to use a PS4 DualShock controller with a PC
• How to become a Sony PS4 beta tester
• Best PS4 games in 2016
• Best PS4 deals in 2016
• Best PS4 headsets in 2016
• Best PS4 racing games in 2016

The PS4 is one of the best consoles around, and gives you access to games like Bloodborne, Driveclub and Killzone. However, the PS4 also packs in a range of small but useful features that really do make your life easier - and we’ve put together the tips and tricks that show you how to use them. Sure, they aren’t going to make you better at Dark Souls 3, but whether it’s learning how to message faster or quickly sharing screenshots – these secret features will make your PS4 a bit better to use. Interested? Here’s our favourite PS4 tips and tricks in 2016.

The best PS4 tips and tricks

1. Use your headphones

If you’re playing at night but still want to experience the sound your favourite game, the PS4 ets you listen the action via headphones. If you look close enough at a DualShock 4 you’ll see a handy 3.5mm port facing you. This output is used for chatting by default, so after popping in your own headphones, you’ll need to hold down the PS button, then go to Adjust devices | Output to headphones | All audio, and that;s it. Whether you’re racing round Catalunya or 360 no-scoping the enemy you’ll now be able to hear everything without waking anyone up.

2. Get better at sharing

The PS4 is great for sharing your best gaming moments, and even gives you a dedicated button on the DualShock4 - but it basically interrupts your gameplay every time you want to share something. Not great is it? Luckily, you can actually change this in Share settings, so a quick press will snap a screenshot for safe keeping without ruining your flow. When you want to access the menu, just hold down the Share button.

3. Quick messaging

You know how it goes. After getting a PSN message from your friend, it takes you about 5 minutes to put together a reply – and by then no one cares. However, there is another way to do things; using your smartphone. If you download the PS4 app to your iPhone or Android, and pair it to your PS4 via Wi-Fi, you can use its as a second input device. The result? Messaging actually works.

4. Multitasking

The PS4 comes with a range of applications, from Netflix to iPlayer – oh, and games of course, but it’s pretty hard to switch between them with just a controller. Well it is until you discover use this trick. By double-tapping the PS Home button, you can actually switch between the two most recently used apps. Sure, it’s not the multi-tasking we’d want to see on the PS4, but it’s better than nothing.

5. Back-up your game saves to USB

If you’ve got a PS4 and PSN Plus, your games saves can be automatically stored on the cloud, but if you’d prefer your finest gaming achievements to be on a physical device, you can do that too. To save your games to a USB drive, just make sure you have a drive with enough space in, pop it in the PS4's USB port, and go to 'Application saved data management.’ Then go to Saved data system storage |Copy data to USB storage. There you can back up all your game content, or certain games to an external HDD or USB stick.