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A few updates later while in Beta and Valve has put out the first Release Candidate for their completely overhauled Steam Mobile App. Having a Release Candidate means they're very close to releasing it for everyone, it just needs a bit more testing to see if any urgent issues appear.

What's they've added recently:

  • Improved messaging when asking for camera permissions.
  • Fixed pull to refresh in the Library screen not refreshing everything.
  • Improved loading states in the Library screen.
  • Fixed a crash that could happen when opening links externally.
  • Improved behavior of how the app attempts to open non-Steam links in your default device browser.
  • Fixed the ability to send multiple "Verify Code" actions when migrating / adding an authenticator, which would end up loading to failures.
  • Updated wishlist notifications to open up directly to the wishlisted app page rather than taking you to the wishlist.
  • Fix web content sometimes not refreshing properly when attempting to reload the same page multiple times.
  • Fixed some non-English languages not always correctly displaying numbers with decimal places.
  • Improved the reliability of sign in confirmation dialogs appearing.
  • Fixed case for certain users where approving a sign in confirmation would have no effect.

If you wish to try it out before release:

Android

Open this link on your Android device. The Google Play store will offer you a link to join the beta and download the updated app.

iOS

Open this link on your iOS device. You'll be prompted to install Apple's own TestFlight app. Once TestFlight is installed, it will automatically install the updated Steam Mobile App. Note: spaces on iOS are limited.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Apps, Misc, Steam
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12 comments

muhgo Oct 10, 2022
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What happens if you're on iOS and install the Beta over your existing installation? Will this clear the 2FA data? Because I don't want to be locked-out of my account.
TimeFreeze Oct 10, 2022
What happens if you're on iOS and install the Beta over your existing installation? Will this clear the 2FA data? Because I don't want to be locked-out of my account.

Can only speak for myself but i had no issues. The login data and everything was still there, only difference of course was that i have the new app instead of the old one.
BlackBloodRum Oct 10, 2022
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What happens if you're on iOS and install the Beta over your existing installation? Will this clear the 2FA data? Because I don't want to be locked-out of my account.
2FA data will persist, but make sure not to lose your recovery code if you need to go back for any reason -- that in itself would be an issue due to trade and market cooldowns caused by the removal of Steam Guard device.

My recommendation is to use the old version for as long as you can, since the new Steam app doesn't feature chat, which is instead provided by the buggy Steam Chat app.

As an Android user, I took a look at the activities and boy, there's a lot of unnecessary crap. I chose to stay on the old version even following the official release unless they REALLY provide a good reason to switch.
Useful info! Thanks!
WorMzy Oct 10, 2022
Neat! No problems on Android either. I signed up, downloaded the update (apparently I last updated Steam on Android over a year ago), and logged back in. Presumably Steam realised that my phone was my MFA device and didn't prompt me for a one time password, but it did drop me at the MFA QR code screen, which confused me for a moment ("what am I supposed to scan?").

The updated app is much better, hopefully it goes live for all users soon.
pleasereadthemanual Oct 10, 2022
Obligatory "I wish Steam just did normal TOTP with secrets you can use with any 2FA app, including password managers" comment.
Botonoski Oct 11, 2022
I wish that Steam added android as a platform, Google Play is an utter shitshow and I bet if Steam through their hat into the ring and allowed devs to upload apks of their games, things'd be a bit better, get more non-freemium games onto the platform at least.
Of course it'll never happen, Google Play doesn't allow appstores to be distributed on their appstore.


Last edited by Botonoski on 21 October 2022 at 3:45 am UTC
hardpenguin Oct 11, 2022
The new app is... Okay.

It speeds up login process a lot for me, which is important because I login from multiple browsers.
Eike Oct 11, 2022
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Of course it'll never happen, Google Play doesn't allow appstores to be distributed on their appstore.

They could do it as apk, just as F-Droid does.
const Oct 11, 2022
Of course it'll never happen, Google Play doesn't allow appstores to be distributed on their appstore.

They could do it as apk, just as F-Droid does.

Which would be a major no-no for 99% of all Android users. I did place F-Droid on several devices of family and friends. One of them actually manages to use it and update packages, the others are scared of any update notification and just don't do it.
Even Amazon failed with its Appstore, even though they got instant market penetration with their devices. It's incredible hard to counter google with their quadruple of intersecting monopolys and control over the platforms. Yes, Android isn't a completely closed platforms, but the little hurdles they integrate, especially for open source apps, are working.

Yet I agree that a specialized game store might find its niche. I always thought itch.io should really invest in theirs. With more comfortable handling and a review system, I bet they would have profited. A number of players itch could count as success would be a failure for Valve, though. And their investment would need to be much much bigger.

What I really want, though, is a Steam Phone with real SteamOS, on ARM, Wayland and Vulkan, only running on hardware with upstreamed drivers. Valve would need to tackle andbox, which might be a bigger project then Proton, but it's at least a path in the future. Android is a failed platform gone berserk. The sheer amount of users having critical apps on devices that were not updated for years because the vendor doesn't care is just so messed up. Valve could be able to break the duopoly, but not from inside Android.


Last edited by const on 11 October 2022 at 8:01 am UTC
raw_bean Oct 11, 2022
What happens if you're on iOS and install the Beta over your existing installation? Will this clear the 2FA data? Because I don't want to be locked-out of my account.
2FA data will persist, but make sure not to lose your recovery code if you need to go back for any reason -- that in itself would be an issue due to trade and market cooldowns caused by the removal of Steam Guard device.

My recommendation is to use the old version for as long as you can, since the new Steam app doesn't feature chat, which is instead provided by the buggy Steam Chat app.

As an Android user, I took a look at the activities and boy, there's a lot of unnecessary crap. I chose to stay on the old version even following the official release unless they REALLY provide a good reason to switch.

People still use Steam chat? Haven't used it in years personally.

Having multiple user logins on one instance of the app and the qr code verification allowing me and my wife to instantly switch between our accounts on the main PC is a huge boon with the new app.
Venkarian Oct 11, 2022
Frist comment here ! Thanks for your job Liam !

It would be so nice if they added more features to there website like images (banners, icons and capsules) for third party apps.
pleasereadthemanual Oct 11, 2022
Obligatory "I wish Steam just did normal TOTP with secrets you can use with any 2FA app, including password managers" comment.
It does, however the secret is not accessible without reading app data directly, which requires root, OR you may use a third party implementation such as steamguard-cli that bypass the need for a phone entirely.
Huh. The more you know. Maybe I'll try that someday instead of email 2FA.
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