Available now for Steam Desktop and Steam Deck, Valve has officially launched the new Steam Families system in a stable Steam Client Update. The system was in Beta since March.
This does not yet bring Steam Game Recording into the stable client, but it does make some UI changes to prepare for it. You'll still need to stay opted into the Beta for all that, but hopefully that will properly ship soon too.
For those who haven't been in the Beta, it finally means your whole Steam Library doesn't get locked down when someone is playing a completely different game. Amongst many other nice improvements like vastly improved parental controls. Overall, a really great update that continues to show why most people prefer Steam.
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Here's the full update notes from Valve for Steam Desktop:
General
- Steam Families is now available for all users. For more info about Steam Families, you can read our news post, check out our Support FAQ
- The friends list will now show a Steam Deck icon, instead of a gamepad icon, if the other user is playing on a Steam Deck
- Replaced the friends list VR icon with a new graphic that also matches the in-game or online friend state color
- Improved startup and library performance for users with large libraries
- Improved detection of Nintendo Switch Pro controller
- Improved reliability of "games in common" collections in library
- Rewrite of shortcut key binding in settings UI, including the ability to unbind a hotkey
- Fixed taking HDR screenshots on Windows
- Fixed collections based on friends not updating properly
- Fixed "Soundtracks" and "All Games" shelves on home page applying the app type filter from the top of the games list. This would lead to Soundtracks showing no items if Soundtracks was not selected at the top of the games list, as an example.
- Fixed collection names not being editable.
- Fixed formatting of links in news posts
Screenshots
- Redesigned the screenshots manager
- Added easier ways to share screenshots directly from Steam, including:
- Copy directly to your clipboard
- Send to friend or chat group via Steam chat
- Send to your phone via the Steam Mobile App
- Export as a new file on your computer
- Improved the ability to share multiple screenshots at once by multi-selecting from the grid view
- Improved the performance and reliability of the screenshots manager
- Added the ability to search within the app filter dropdown
- Pre-emptive work to provide future support for recordings and clips to integrate with the screenshots manager when Steam Game Recording releases out of beta
Steam Overlay
- Improved responsiveness of overlay on Windows
- User interface improvements to Steam IME
- New Clock app in the Steam Overlay that can optionally be pinned on top of games.
Steam Input
- Reduced latency of Steam Input API Action Set/Action Set Layer commands. If any input issues are noticed in Steam Input API games please report them in the forums
- Reduced latency of Steam Input API rumble/haptics commands
- Reduce CPU usage when using both Gyro and Joystick or Trackpad for mouse input
- Added Output Icons to all Mode/Behavior dropdown menus. These indicate if the mode (by default) generates OS Mouse output, XInput (controller) Output, Steam Input API Action Output, or is a remapping tool/Overlay Menu (Touch, Radial, Hotbar).
- Steam Input API Analog Actions that can have multiple modes i.e. "Camera | Camera as FlickStick" are now labelled as "... (via FlickStick)"
- Steam Input API Analog Actions can now optionally be used "... (via Gyro To Mouse)" (default is still "As Mouse" or "As Joystick Mouse" depending on source).
- Fixed Steam Input API issue where analog actions from other action sets incorrectly reporting as active. This affected some titles including Okami HD
- Fixed for SIAPI GetMotionData not returning any information on every controller but the first one plugged in
- Fix rare issue where Gyro Processing occurred before controller type is established.
- Fix for Track Pad as Button Behavior not displaying any glyphs.
- Fix "Gyro Calibration" Button appearing twice on Gyro config screen if there is a mode shift applied to the Gyro.
- Fixed a bug where PlayStation controllers connected over BT could be shown as connected over USB
SteamVR
- Fixed a rare crash when launching a game in VR Game Theater
- Fixed a rare crash when launching a VR game for streaming
Linux
- Improved system display scale detection to be compatible with more desktop environments.
- Fixed a crash in gldriverquery when using latest nvidia graphics card drivers
- Fixed a crash that could occur at exit while cleaning up websockets
macOS
- Fixed Disk Write Errors sometimes occurring when updating games on macOS 13+
- Fixed Steam Overlay crash in some games using Metal rendering
- Fixed some UI issues in user login
- Fixed issue preventing the hardware encoder enable setting from being honored
While those changes above cover all platforms from the main changelog, there's also a few changes listed in the Steam Deck changelog that were not present above that seem specific to the Deck:
General
- Added a dropdown to Settings->Display->Advanced to select the maximum resolution allowed to be used by games. This is the global version of the 'Game Resolution' dropdown already available under Game Settings->General.
- Added Sign Out to the power menu on Deck.
- Improvements to keyboard event tracking and audio latency in updated SDL build.
- Improved client startup performance.
- Fixed controller input no longer going to game after resuming from sleep if a wake movie is set.
- Fixed broken thumbnail for screenshots from non-steam game shortcuts uploaded to steam, when viewed from another computer.
- Fixed a case that game server / server browser lists would re-fetch when only re-ping on existing list was requested.
- Fixed some games with achievements showing as "No Achievements" when sorting grids or shelves by achievement percentage.
- Fixed certain apps disappearing from Recent Games after a client restart.
- Fixed collection names being displayed in all uppercase in edit controls.
- Fixed a few spots where tooltips were causing unexpected word wrap.
- Fixed an issue with padding for friends in the game invite dialog.
Desktop Mode
- Fixed Ctrl-F not focusing search box in library.
Clock and Timer
- Improved Timer UI.
Remote Play
- Simplify encoding options to a hardware encoding enable checkbox.
Steam Input
- Fixed for SIAPI GetMotionData not returning any information on every controller but the first one plugged in.
- Fix for Okami HD Brush and Fishing Rod game actions.
- SIAPI: Fix for analog actions from other action sets incorrectly reporting as active. This affected some titles including Okami HD.
- Added "Rotate Output" slider to "Joystick" and "Joystick Mouse" mode settings. This can be useful for certain shmups, or simply to find a more natural "Up" direction on your joystick.
- Fixed regression: "Dots per 360" was having no effect on FlickStick or Gyro to Mouse modes.
- Fixed a case where exiting a non-Steam game could leave controllers w/o input until you hit the guide button or QAM button.
Also see Valve's news post on it.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
Mountain Man Sep 12
Quoting: BelaptirIt's crap.
They restricted it so much that you must be in the same household (aka under the same roof) to invite someone. People reporting everywhere that not even if they live in the same building but different apartments works. You need to be under the same roof and, apparently, show activity that proves it.
We thought it was a downgrade because we couldn't invite people from the same region but a different country, but this is even worse.
That makes sense. Family sharing is supposed to be used for, well ,family sharing, which typically means people living under the same roof. It's not meant for sharing with your friends in a completely different residence.
Last edited by Mountain Man on 12 September 2024 at 2:08 pm UTC
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Luckily I managed to get it to accept my kids's accounts as family.
I'm excited about the ability to NOT have my whole account locked when a kid plays a game that's not in their accounts.
I agree they really need to cater for cases where the kids don't live with the playing parent, or not all the time.
But across country regions, sure, I get that limit.
I'm excited about the ability to NOT have my whole account locked when a kid plays a game that's not in their accounts.
I agree they really need to cater for cases where the kids don't live with the playing parent, or not all the time.
But across country regions, sure, I get that limit.
1 Likes, Who?
I've also used the beta since it was first released.
For family use cases this is so much better than the old library sharing. Now one of us can use the Deck one the HTPC and I can still play something on my desktop.
For family use cases this is so much better than the old library sharing. Now one of us can use the Deck one the HTPC and I can still play something on my desktop.
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: melkemindQuoting: doragasuQuoting: Liam DaweI get that for how some people live, in that way it's a downgrade. But, I don't really believe a family sharing system is meant at all for different countries. That, really, feels like a bit of a stretch for Valve getting developers on board to allow games to be shared like this at all.
Different households in the same country though, that I feel they could (and should) relax on a bit. Like for me as a co-parent, the kiddo is between two houses in two completely different cities.
I haven't yet tested the feature, but I read in their FAQ that you can be offline while using this revamped family sharing. So is it possible that maybe you only have to verify the "under the same roof" requirement once (or once each several weeks/months)? If this is possible maybe you could visit other house, login with your account and enable family sharing there. But I'm just guessing, no idea if this will work.
I used the beta the entire time with my kids, one of whom is grown, and we haven't been under the same roof plenty of times when we played games from each other's libraries.
Awesome, then it looks like my guess was right, thanks for the info!
0 Likes
Quoting: Mountain ManQuoting: BelaptirIt's crap.
They restricted it so much that you must be in the same household (aka under the same roof) to invite someone. People reporting everywhere that not even if they live in the same building but different apartments works. You need to be under the same roof and, apparently, show activity that proves it.
We thought it was a downgrade because we couldn't invite people from the same region but a different country, but this is even worse.
That makes sense. Family sharing is supposed to be used for, well ,family sharing, which typically means people living under the same roof. It's not meant for sharing with your friends in a completely different residence.
Typically? My sister lives in a different house, she's not family then? What about people who move to a different country leaving parents or siblings behind? Are they not family?
What if my sister lives in my same building but we don't live in the same apartment? Are we not family?
The restriction of the year cooldown and the risk of being banned by what other family members do with your games should be more than enough to control these issues.
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: BelaptirThey restricted it so much that you must be in the same household (aka under the same roof) to invite someone.
What? Darn, this is only noted at the very end of the FAQ. And I was sharing my library with my brother who lives in another EU country.
There goes pour family sharing, I guess... Though I suggested on the forum that they should keep the same limitations as before (no offline, library locking), instead, when they detect a long distance pairing.
3 Likes, Who?
IrisNebula Sep 12
Quoting: Liam DaweI get that for how some people live, in that way it's a downgrade. But, I don't really believe a family sharing system is meant at all for different countries. That, really, feels like a bit of a stretch for Valve getting developers on board to allow games to be shared like this at all.
Different households in the same country though, that I feel they could (and should) relax on a bit. Like for me as a co-parent, the kiddo is between two houses in two completely different cities.
But Liam, people might change countries at any point, for example for studies or for a year of work. This is especially true in the EU, where there's even people commuting to work in a different country daily as borders are non-existent.
So just becoming 18 and moving for studies for example, doesn't suddenly make you non-family...
As MayeulC suggested above, keeping the old restrictive system to apply for distant sharing, would be enough to work things out with publishers, we've been using it fine for a decade now, and there were no issues.
Last edited by IrisNebula on 12 September 2024 at 8:16 pm UTC
5 Likes, Who?
Mountain Man Sep 12
Quoting: BelaptirQuoting: Mountain ManQuoting: BelaptirIt's crap.
They restricted it so much that you must be in the same household (aka under the same roof) to invite someone. People reporting everywhere that not even if they live in the same building but different apartments works. You need to be under the same roof and, apparently, show activity that proves it.
We thought it was a downgrade because we couldn't invite people from the same region but a different country, but this is even worse.
That makes sense. Family sharing is supposed to be used for, well ,family sharing, which typically means people living under the same roof. It's not meant for sharing with your friends in a completely different residence.
Typically? My sister lives in a different house, she's not family then? What about people who move to a different country leaving parents or siblings behind? Are they not family?
What if my sister lives in my same building but we don't live in the same apartment? Are we not family?
The restriction of the year cooldown and the risk of being banned by what other family members do with your games should be more than enough to control these issues.
The simple fact is that family sharing was always intended for use by people living in the same residence, primarily so that parents could share games with their kids. If your sister is living on her own, then the expectation is that she will buy her own games.
Look, don't get hung up on the name "Family Sharing". Think of it as "local sharing" for a better understanding of the use case.
Last edited by Mountain Man on 12 September 2024 at 8:51 pm UTC
3 Likes, Who?
Quoting: BelaptirQuoting: Mountain ManQuoting: BelaptirIt's crap.
They restricted it so much that you must be in the same household (aka under the same roof) to invite someone. People reporting everywhere that not even if they live in the same building but different apartments works. You need to be under the same roof and, apparently, show activity that proves it.
We thought it was a downgrade because we couldn't invite people from the same region but a different country, but this is even worse.
That makes sense. Family sharing is supposed to be used for, well ,family sharing, which typically means people living under the same roof. It's not meant for sharing with your friends in a completely different residence.
Typically? My sister lives in a different house, she's not family then? What about people who move to a different country leaving parents or siblings behind? Are they not family?
What if my sister lives in my same building but we don't live in the same apartment? Are we not family?
The restriction of the year cooldown and the risk of being banned by what other family members do with your games should be more than enough to control these issues.
I suspect perhaps a better label for what Valve is going for would be "Household Sharing" rather than "Family Sharing". It's just that the latter is a much more common (and marketable?) term, even if the former might be more accurate.
But yeah - I understand it sucks either way to lose something you had been counting on (and possibly basing some previous decisions on). In the EU even country-based limits to "Family" Sharing would be restrictive for many families and even some households (frequently commuting; not co-habiting but co-parenting).
Last edited by chr on 12 September 2024 at 9:17 pm UTC
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