The Steam Deck's Latest Update Focuses On Quality Of Life

Now in its third month since release, Valve continues to push updates for the Steam Deck designed to improve quality of life for players on the handheld PC gaming device. After its last update added a lock screen and window switching, the latest update adds improvements for players using the Steam Deck with an external display, as well as game-specific performance settings, and more.

While the Steam Deck isn't exactly designed to be played with an external display, Valve has started to implement some updates for players who want to do it regardless. After the latest update, the interface will be scaled to a virtual 1280x800 resolution when connected to external screens, though Valve adds that this feature will be worked on and improved in the future.

The update has also added the ability for players to customize performance settings for each game they play on the Steam Deck, a useful feature considering the limitations of the Steam Deck's portable-sized hardware. Games will use the system settings by default, but per-game profiles can be set up through the Quick Access Menu.

The rest of the updates include a number of fixes and improvements to the console's various keyboards, as well as improvements for players switching between online and offline modes. You can check out the full patch notes for the update below.

Trying to decide what to play on your Steam Deck? Check out our list of some of the best games that have been "Deck Verified" by Valve.

Steam Deck Client Update

General

• When connected to an external display, Steam Deck interface is now scaled to virtual 1280x800 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