DroidDeck, the newest “SteamOS on your handheld” software on the block is coming out swinging. With the full Big Picture Mode for Steam in an app, it provides a way to have that x86 experience without having to turn your Android handheld into a full Steam Deck like ArmadaOS. That being said, it’s still in early days, and there’s a lot of work to be done. But it seems, thanks to some help from the community as well, DroidDeck is going to be doing a lot of cooking in the near future, and if their latest release has anything to say about it. It’ll be really good.
As always, I like to recommend where you can learn more, and in the case of DroidDeck you can either check out the DroidDeck Github for more detailed information, or the DroidDeck Discord if you’d like to chat with their community more.
As for new information on the 0.4.0 update, you can find that below, with some of my favorites in bold for easier reading.
Feature Updates
- Replaced LXQt with SteamOS-style KDE Plasma 6.7 (@xXJSONDeruloXx, #473, #610)
- Added GOG, Epic Games and Amazon Games integration with account sign-in, game libraries, downloads and launching through Steam. GOG and Epic games also support cloud saves (@The412Banner, @xXJSONDeruloXx, @Gustash, @maxjivi05, #476, #500, #578, #400)
- Added Steam’s native touch controller (beta) (@xXJSONDeruloXx, #431)
- Added multi-controller support for up to 4 players (@xXJSONDeruloXx, @maxjivi05, @Neolyum, #431, #614)
- Added Bluetooth LE Steam Controller (2025) support, including trackpads, back grips and motion controls. (@SG3xHERO, #404)
- The built-in controller can now emulate a Steam Deck, Steam Controller, Xbox 360, DualShock 4 or DualSense (@xXJSONDeruloXx, #545, #558, #559)
- Added persistent per-game compatibility profiles for Proton, FEX, DXVK, VKD3D-Proton, Windows components, environment variables and texture filtering (@jmarti326, #449)
- Revamped adding and managing non-Steam games (@The412Banner, #492)
- Added Follow screen resolution for foldables (@SG3xHERO, #403)
- Added an optional touch gamepad below the game on unfolded foldables (@SG3xHERO, #407)
- Added DroidDeck-Proton as an installable Proton source alongside GE-Proton and CachyOS Proton (@The412Banner, #588)
- Added support for installing Flatpak apps directly from .flatpak bundles (@xXJSONDeruloXx, #446)
- Added a manual landscape orientation setting, including reverse landscape (@Kobtul, #441)
- Added an optional controller setting to open the Steam menu with the physical Select button. (@0x1428571429, #384)
Improvements
- Major launcher UI redesign across Steam settings, Components, Setup, Stores, Flathub and Desktop (@xXJSONDeruloXx, #482, #548, #605)
- Store downloads now survive app restarts (@xXJSONDeruloXx, #608)
- Store game removal now shows confirmation and uninstall progress (@xXJSONDeruloXx, #609)
- Expanded PRoot fast paths, with performance improvements of up to 57% in measured workloads (@maxjivi05, @xXJSONDeruloXx, #466, #494)
- Significantly reduced launcher idle CPU usage (@maxjivi05, #529)
- Windows components are now selected automatically (@The412Banner, #554)
- Expanded Windows component installation to support VC++ redistributables, .NET Framework and more installer formats (@The412Banner, #480, #495)
- KDE Desktop can now launch Windows executables, Linux programs, AppImages and scripts directly from the file manager or terminal. (@maxjivi05, #549)
- Added safer Desktop uninstall and legacy LXQt cleanup (@xXJSONDeruloXx, #493)
- Improved Proton and component management (@The412Banner, @xXJSONDeruloXx, #588, #606)
- Improved DirectAudio compatibility (@The412Banner, #439)
- Reduced unnecessary motion sensor polling (@muazkadan, #534)
- Added alignment guides and snapping when dragging buttons in the on-screen controller editor. (@willie-yao, #490)
- Improved security by encrypting store credentials with Android Keystore and keeping logs in private app storage until explicitly shared as a sanitized ZIP (@The412Banner, #484, #486)
- Steam now consistently uses Steam Deck mode and the Steam Deck beta branch, removing the legacy client and mode switches. (@xXJSONDeruloXx, #546)
For all of the extra fixes, again I highly recommend checking out the full 0.4.0 Changelog over on their Github, as improvements for specific games like Red Dead Redemption 2, and handhelds like the Odin 3 have been included in this, and I think it’s great they’re already able to make these improvements for specific items. DroidDeck came out of nowhere, but I hope to see plenty of improvement in the near future. And if this release is anything to make of it, I’m sure we will.
Plus… GOG Launcher is just a great add-on for anyone.
