It’s been a few months since the Steam Deck hit the scene, and the system’s growing pains are being steadily worked out. Valve continues to roll out updates for the handheld PC, with the latest making improvements to Offline Mode, adding a lock screen, and finally implementing window switching. The newest patch continues to fine-tune nearly every aspect of the console.
Major additions in the new update include the ability to create custom performance profiles for specific games, external screen support, and improvements to the Steam Deck’s keyboards.
Check out the full patch notes below:
Steam Deck Client Update
General
- When connected to an external display, Steam Deck interface is now scaled to virtual 1280×800 resolution (more work on this feature and functionality is underway)
- Added Steam hardware survey functionality for Steam Deck
- Fixed issue with multiple new Steam Inventory items notifications appearing
- Fixed issue with users showing up as Favorites when they are no longer friends
- Fixed issues with various dialogs laying out incorrectly when the on-screen keyboard is visible
- Fixed on-screen keyboard and magnifier interstitials not taking input on first launch of some games
Per-game performance profiles
- Players can now set game-specific performance settings. This feature is accessed in Quick Access Menu > Performance > Advanced View
- By default, games will use the system performance settings
- If per game settings are toggled on, a profile for the currently running title is created. Any edits will be saved and automatically applied when the game is launched
- You can always toggle this off to go back to system default settings, or reset to system default settings at any time
Online / Offline
- Improved performance when switching from offline to online modes
- Improved availability of home screen sections when switching from offline to online modes
- Fixed friends continuing to show as online when Steam is disconnected or switches to offline mode
Keyboards
- Added the Bulgarian Phonetic Traditional and Phonetic keyboard layouts
- Corrected the interaction between CapsLock and Shift
- The keyboard shows AltGr symbol hints when AltGr is not active
- The keyboard only shows AltGr symbols when AltGr is active
- Non-ASCII characters work in desktop mode
- Fixed the doubled ‘Г’ key on the Russian keyboard
- Removed the ‘ґ’ key from the Ukrainian keyboard
Controllers
- Removed rumble & haptics toggles from the Quick Access menu. These can be accessed in the Settings > Controller Settings page.
- Moved Re-order Controllers button to the Other section in the Quick Access menu
Remote Play
- Added a “Stop Streaming” option to the Power menu when hosting a Remote Play session
- Updated Recently Played games list to include streamed games
The Steam Deck was released in late February. While quite a few PC gamers have managed to snag one, supply chain issues are causing serious delays going forward. Anyone hoping to go buy one may be waiting until 2023 to finally give it a try.
