What Does Switch Firmware 18.0.0 Do? Not Much, It Seems
Nintendo Switch in use
Every couple of months, Nintendo updates the system software for the Nintendo Switch, sometimes adding new features but more often just fixing bugs and “improving stability.” Today, Nintendo released an update to the Switch, and despite the full version update from version 17.0.1 to 18.0.1, there’s really not much to it.
As per Nintendo’s own patch notes for the system update, version 18.0.0 lets Switch owners have their consoles fall asleep faster when left untouched on the TV, added a Korean-language help video for the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app, and, you guessed it, improved stability.
Here’s the full patch notes:
Ver. 18.0.0 (Released March 26, 2024)
Added “15 Minutes” as an option for “Auto-sleep when playing on TV” in Sleep Mode Settings.
Added Korean as a supported language for “Nintendo Switch Parental Controls” introductory video.
General system stability improvements to enhance the user's experience.
A few more things have happened behind the scenes, according to dataminers. OatmealDome, a prominent dataminer on Twitter, revealed that Nintendo updated its bad words list to include some mentions of genitalia, and that “pretty much every system component was updated.” This doesn’t mean that anything in particular is on the way, and no new features are mentioned, so it’s likely that this is something for developers rather than a consumer-facing update.
The last time a major new feature was added to the Switch was a little over 2 years ago, with version 14.0.0, which was released on March 22, 2022. That update added a software groups feature, which allowed players to make folders in which they could group software together, accessible from the All Software screen.
It's expected that the Nintendo Switch likely won't get any new features in future updates, especially with a successor console seemingly on the horizon. Nintendo has yet to comment on its future console, but if rumors are to be believed, it should be announced sometime this year.
