Steam Deck Receives Big New Update

Valve has issued a major new update for the Steam Deck handheld gaming PC. The September 9 SteamOS client update for the Steam Deck brings a long list of changes, marking one of the biggest patches the handheld has seen in months.

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Since the Steam Deck's launch in 2022, Valve has done well to maintain a regular cadence of support for the handheld. Once every few months, the Steam Deck gets a hefty update comprising a slew of bug fixes, heavily-requested features, and more. Steam Deck updates usually arrive first in the beta channel, where participants test experimental features and fixes before they go live for everyone. Over the past several months, Steam Deck beta users have received improvements ranging from controller fixes to third-party handheld support, but these upgrades were yet to make their way to the wider community.

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By Aaron McKinley

The September 9 Client Update now brings those improvements to the stable channel, granting all Steam Deck users access to a sweeping set of upgrades, while Valve also doubles down on supporting other SteamOS devices like the Lenovo Legion Go S. Over 30 general enhancements are part of the update, including a new Customization tab that's been added to game properties, letting users assign custom-sort titles in their libraries. Library startup performance has been improved too, especially for users with non-Steam games, and performance profiles now switch faster.

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Moreover, longstanding Steam Deck issues have been addressed in the new update, including those with screenshots, avatars, sorting games, and Bluetooth failing to re-enable after being disabled in Desktop Mode. Fixes for duplicated controller inputs and incorrect button prompts across devices like 8BitDo and GameCube controllers have been deployed, and Steam Input has expanded to support new hardware like the PDP REALMz Wireless Controller for Switch. Desktop Mode also features its own accessibility menu now, which includes high-contrast settings, reduced motion options, and UI scaling controls. Lastly, Lenovo Legion Go S users running SteamOS now have full joystick LED customization controls, a feature previously limited to beta builds.

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This latest Steam Deck update looks to address quite a lot of complaints, so users will most likely be happy with it. Further refinements to SteamOS for third-party devices are welcome as well, given how much slicker and portable-friendly it is compared to Windows 11. Steam users on PC also received a new Client Update on September 9, which introduced similar accessibility and customization features.

Steam Deck September 9 Client Update Full Patch Notes

General

Added a notification for when a trade is reversed via Trade Protection
Added the percentage of the transfer remaining to the Steam Cloud upload/download text in the library.
Added a Customization tab to game properties. The Customization tab allows users to set a custom sort title that will be used instead of the actual title when sorting games in the library.
Added the ability to filter by Private games in dynamic collections or filtered app views.
Updated the featured app in the recent games carousel to use the new larger format Library Header image when available.
Improved presentation of private apps in the client while offline.
Improved robustness of collection storage.
Improved performance profile switching time.
Improved startup performance for users with large libraries that include non-Steam games.
Modified Notifications Settings to be clearer about which notifications will show toasts/play sounds when toasts are globally disabled.
Fixed an issue with deleting screenshots from the focused screenshot view briefly showing an error and potentially navigating the user away from their screenshots
Fixed the Game Text Entry screen staying up if you exit the game via the overlay while it is being displayed
Fixed spacing of friend icons in "Played Previously" and "On Their Wishlist" sections in app details.
Fixed the user avatar not showing in the header if you booted into offline mode
Fixed the overlay menu failing to scroll when selecting alternative game windows.
Fixed a case where steam would freeze and fail to recover after a process crash.
Fixed sort titles not being restored to the correct title on clear for games that already have a sort title set in their app info.
Fixed an issue that could cause library, collections, or shelves to fail to load for some users.
Fix an issue with crash dump reporting.
Fixed Steam client failing to reload or showing dialogs unexpectedly after a render process crash.
Fixed logo images sometimes flashing at the wrong position for games that have custom logo positions set.
Fixed a steam crash/UI restart when the SteamOS Manager service restarts.
Fixed an issue where screenshots from no longer installed Source mods could cause an error when filtering the "Screenshots and Recordings" page.
Fixed a failure to enable bluetooth via Settings->Bluetooth if it was previously disabled in Desktop Mode.
Fixed an issue where newly created accounts would show an empty library even after games had been added.
Fixed custom logo images for non-Steam games sometimes not appearing.
Fixed an issue where selection would be lost when navigating back out of app details and other screens.
Fixed 8BitDo controller guide button showing the Xbox logo
Fixed page shift when scrolling through link buttons on game details page
Fixed achievement presentation in app activity feed and post-game summary panels
Fixed a case where per-game performance profiles would fail to activate.

Desktop Mode

Added an accessibility settings menu to desktop mode. It includes features such as:
- High Contrast mode,
- Reduced motion settings,
- UI Scale controls.
Added accessibility annotations to many UI components.
The Customization tab in desktop mode also allows users to view and set custom artwork for the game.
The Steam/Guide buttons on controllers will now toggle the visibility of the desktop overlay.
Performance Monitor now supports CPU temperature.
Fixed scaling of on-screen keyboard when accessibility display scaling is enabled.
Fixed notifications and find-in-page popups intermittently failing to close or focus.
Fixed Steam Deck compatibility and controller compatibility dropdowns in collection filter edit pane not updating if their corresponding filter was removed from the top bar.
Fixed logo positioning tool allowing drag outside of the bounds of the background image and fixed hitching animation.
Fixed the 'Browse Local Files' button in 'Game Properties' failing to open the system file browser.
Made layout and functionality improvements to the soundtrack player and soundtrack browser in the desktop overlay.
Removed a setting from Music settings that wasn't hooked up to anything.

Steam Input

Added support for analog activators on d-pad modes for joysticks and trackpads
Fixed GameCube controllers getting PlayStation button prompts
Added support for the PDP REALMz Wireless Controller for Switch
Fixed an issue where editing commands on an input bound to a modeshift could duplicate bindings
Fixed a case where 8bitdo controllers in Steam mode could have multiple devices show up if Steam Input was disabled globally for a game
Fix a case where Xbox and Playstation controllers could be duplicated when Steam Input is enabled.
Improved detection of FlyDigi Apex and Vader controllers

Remote Play

Reduced stutter when a Remote Play client with many shortcuts becomes available for streaming.
Fixed the Steam+X shortcut to bring up the on-screen keyboard while streaming.
Fixed streaming from computers on other networks.