Xbox chat service app

Question

Xbox chat service app

Brandon Tafolla 20

I am developing a app to allow chat in the back ground as game is running. I have players the dont want to use discord. Is there a way to do that type of background app?

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Jay Pham (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 4,270 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Brandon Tafolla ,

I understand you want to build a chat app that keeps running in the background on the Xbox console while a game is running, so your players do not need Discord.

I have to be upfront with you: this is not something a third-party app can do on the console today, and the limitation comes from the platform itself rather than from a missing API. On Xbox, when the player switches to a game, any UWP app is suspended by the system and stops executing code, so it cannot keep a network connection or audio session alive. You can see this behavior documented in the Windows app lifecycle model. On top of that, the console gives the foreground game exclusive priority over CPU, GPU and memory, while apps only get a restricted budget and only while they are active, as described in System resources for UWP apps and games on Xbox One. The single exception Microsoft allows for background execution on Xbox is media playback for music apps, which does not cover chat or voice scenarios; see Play media in the background.

For voice chat during gameplay on the console, the platform reserves this for two paths. The first is the built-in Xbox Party Chat, which is a system feature that third-party apps cannot replace or run alongside. The second is Game Chat 2, which is an API for chat integrated inside the game itself; it requires being a registered Xbox game developer through the ID@Xbox program, and it is not available to a standalone companion app.

That said, if some of your players are on Windows PC, your idea is fully achievable there. A desktop app (I would suggest WinUI 3 with the Windows App SDK rather than UWP for new development) can run in the background or as an overlay without these restrictions. For the real-time messaging layer you can use raw WebSockets, or a managed service such as Azure Web PubSub (samples in the azure-webpubsub GitHub repo) or Azure SignalR Service (samples in the AzureSignalR-samples GitHub repo).

So in short: on the console, point your players to Xbox Party Chat; on PC, your app is viable and I would be happy to point you to more resources if you go that route.

If you found my response helpful or informative, I would greatly appreciate it if you could provide feedback by interacting with the system or leaving a comment below.

Thank you.

Brandon Tafolla 20 Reputation points

2026-08-26T10:53:50.86+00:00

Follow up question if you don’t mind. What if I switch course and make an app that connects to mumble server (app they all use). There are times they use the mumble app through pc and sometimes Linux. I mostly use Xbox. Could an app that connects to there servers since it’s open source work with audio as I play a game?
Jay Pham (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 4,270 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-27T01:28:13.73+00:00

Hi @Brandon Tafolla

That is a good follow-up, and I want to give you a straight answer so you do not invest time in the wrong direction.

The protocol side of your idea is completely sound. Mumble is open source (mumble-voip/mumble on GitHub), the protocol is documented, and UWP provides the necessary networking APIs (StreamSocket and DatagramSocket) to build a client that connects to your friends' server. Nothing on the networking layer would stop you.

The problem is that the limitation I described earlier is not about the protocol or the server at all; it is about what happens to your app the moment a game takes the foreground. As soon as you switch to your game, the Xbox suspends your Mumble client just like any other app; its sockets are torn down and audio capture and playback stop, per the app lifecycle model. The only background exception on Xbox is one-way media playback for music apps, and two-way voice with a live microphone does not qualify. So your client would work while it is on screen, and stop working at exactly the moment you need it, which is while you are playing.

Given that your friends are already on Mumble via PC and Linux, the most practical setup for you today is to run Mumble on a second device while you play on the Xbox; Mumble has official mobile clients, or a nearby PC or laptop works just as well. This is essentially how people used Discord alongside consoles before any official integration existed, and it requires no development work. On the console itself, Xbox Party Chat remains the only voice channel that can run alongside a game.

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Brandon Tafolla 20 Reputation points

2026-08-26T10:53:50.86+00:00

Follow up question if you don’t mind. What if I switch course and make an app that connects to mumble server (app they all use). There are times they use the mumble app through pc and sometimes Linux. I mostly use Xbox. Could an app that connects to there servers since it’s open source work with audio as I play a game?
Jay Pham (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 4,270 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-27T01:28:13.73+00:00

Hi @Brandon Tafolla

That is a good follow-up, and I want to give you a straight answer so you do not invest time in the wrong direction.

The protocol side of your idea is completely sound. Mumble is open source (mumble-voip/mumble on GitHub), the protocol is documented, and UWP provides the necessary networking APIs (StreamSocket and DatagramSocket) to build a client that connects to your friends' server. Nothing on the networking layer would stop you.

The problem is that the limitation I described earlier is not about the protocol or the server at all; it is about what happens to your app the moment a game takes the foreground. As soon as you switch to your game, the Xbox suspends your Mumble client just like any other app; its sockets are torn down and audio capture and playback stop, per the app lifecycle model. The only background exception on Xbox is one-way media playback for music apps, and two-way voice with a live microphone does not qualify. So your client would work while it is on screen, and stop working at exactly the moment you need it, which is while you are playing.

Given that your friends are already on Mumble via PC and Linux, the most practical setup for you today is to run Mumble on a second device while you play on the Xbox; Mumble has official mobile clients, or a nearby PC or laptop works just as well. This is essentially how people used Discord alongside consoles before any official integration existed, and it requires no development work. On the console itself, Xbox Party Chat remains the only voice channel that can run alongside a game.

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Answer 2

Jay Pham (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 4,270 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

We are currently working the issue and will provide an update soon. Thank you for your patience.

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