Like the PlayStation 4, Xbox One can download content while you’re not home

The next-gen home systems from Sony and Microsoft are both due in November, and each promise to bring the expected improvements to graphics and audio — but the console manufacturers also promise to make the devices more convenient to use.

The Xbox One’s chief architect, Marc Whitten, confirmed that Microsoft’s new box can download content even while you aren’t home. This is a built-in functionality of Xbox One’s low-power mode, which has it performing many jobs in the background while needing only minimal energy.

Yes! Of course you can download while you are away. #xboxone – Always up to date, always your console. The beauty of low power mode!

— Marc Whitten (@notwen) August 30, 2013

Microsoft has repeatedly claimed that gamers won’t have to wait to play games. Its cloud infrastructure will push all title and system updates to the Xbox One as soon as they are available, whether the gamer has the console turned on or not.

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Whitten’s tweet is likely a response to Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida’s revelation that PlayStation 4 owners can purchase a game from their smartphone and automatically install it to the console even when they’re not home:

@SyriasSerj When you buy a PS4 game on smartphone, it will wake your PS4 up to start downloading the game. PS4 goes back to sleep after that

— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) August 27, 2013

Yoshida actually detailed the process while Whitten simply confirmed that it’s possible to download games while you’re away. Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that you can already purchase Xbox 360 games from the web, which will make them automatically appear in your system’s download queue.