The Steam Deck has been out for a while, it's now easy to purchase with no reservation queue, and the long-delayed Steam Deck Docking Station is also here! Valve has put out a lot of updates but there's plenty they could improve. Honestly, it's vastly different to how it felt at release.
After thinking on it for some time, plus gathering some inspiration from people in our Discord and YouTube, here's a current quick list of items I would like to see that i think would just make the Steam Deck better overall. All of these I think are perfectly doable. Obviously there's plenty i want from a Steam Deck 2 which is basically confirmed but what about for now through software updates?
Here's my little list:
A more customizable Home Screen. Let me put collections here, let me move things around and make it more "mine".
Customize the performance overlay. I already know it's possible because it uses MangoHud, which itself has plenty of things you can tweak on desktop Linux and it can be moved to different parts of the screen. The current monitor is great with the different levels you can switch to but let us move it to a different position at the very least, it covers up the UI on a lot of games in the top left.
Downloads with the screen off. The screen itself likely eats a fair amount of battery life, so it sure would be nice if we could have the screen off while downloads continue right? Maybe an option we can turn toggle for the power button to turn the screen off on one tap, with a double-tap being suspend? There's probably better ways to do it but it would be a real nice to have option. I know it's probably not possible to do downloads while suspended like other consoles do due to technical limitations, but that would be one for the Steam Deck 2 and so this feels like a nice small compromise.
More "official" apps that can be installed easily in Gaming Mode in the Non-Steam section of the Library. We know Valve can do it, they did it with Chrome. Let's get more in here! Netflix, Spotify and many more direct-apps. A proper music player would be great here too for your local collection.
Options to deal with the Shader Cache. Not only can it get rather large, being a problem for the 64GB model, it's also confusing for new users. There's posts on it constantly with people confused what's eating their drive space. Clean up the language on it, make it more visible for each game. Let people move it too. The time you have to wait for some games to launch, as it deals with the shaders is terrible too.
Let us move the on-screen keyboard in Desktop Mode. A properly compact version would be great too, it just takes up far too much space.
More regular upgrades to the Plasma Desktop. It's pretty far behind right now, and likely will be again after the next major update drops. The KDE team put a huge amount of effort into upgrading the desktop experience, we should want in on that.
Steam Controller 2. I don't need to say any more do I? Well, the Docking Station is out now, there's many third-party docks and lots of people will be hooking up to a TV. Give us a good official controller!
Let us pick what the Deck boots into between Gaming Mode and Desktop Mode. I'm sure most people use it in Gaming Mode but the option for those of us using it often like a PC or keeping it docked, it could be really useful.
Even more attention on Deck Verified. It's good the system exists but it's far from perfect. Paladins, for example, is still listed as Steam Deck Playable, despite the anti-cheat breaking it quite a long time ago. How are things like this not picked up? Trust in Deck Verified is essential.
I'm sure you all have your own wishlist too. Let me know what you want to see in the comments.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Hibernate would be slower than just adding a few seconds though, why not recharge the deck every few days if you don't play it (but somehow left it in the middle of a game you didn't want to quit)?
It's the whole mental load thing for me. I have so many things to keep track of, keeping track of one less thing is just plain amazing.
Hibernate would be slower than just adding a few seconds though, why not recharge the deck every few days if you don't play it (but somehow left it in the middle of a game you didn't want to quit)?There's a hybrid option too:
Suspend, then hibernate, but only if battery falls below a certain limit or a set amount of time have passed. Resume would be just as fast if it was still in the suspend phase, and if hibernated you would save the battery.
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