- Valve has released a new Steam Deck ‘display-off low-power download’ update
- It is currently only available to Steam Deck users via the beta and preview channels
- Microsoft’s Windows 11 Full Screen Experience doesn’t have a functional sleep and quick resume mode, but this may spur it to
Valve recently introduced its useful Steam Calendar update via its Steam Labs project, and it already has another long-awaited update for Steam Deck users that highlights one of SteamOS’ best features.
Announced on its community page, Valve is introducing a new ‘display-off low-power download’ mode, which allows Steam Deck users to continue game downloads before putting the device to sleep, ultimately saving power and making downloads easier to complete while away from the handheld.
This new feature is currently only available on Steam Deck via beta and preview channels and can be enabled via the ‘power’ tab in the settings. You’ll know it’s active when you press the power button to put the system to sleep and a new prompt asks if you want to continue downloading while the screen is off.
Valve states that pressing a button or moving the Steam Deck will bring up a new status screen (see below) showing download progress – and when on battery power, the device will go into full sleep mode if it drops below 20%.
This takes the popular and beloved sleep and quick resume features on SteamOS to a new level, as you can simply queue up a list of games to download and not have to worry about increased temperatures or fans getting louder from placing the Steam Deck down on a soft surface like a blanket (which I usually do with my handhelds in bed).
I’ve been testing to see if this new beta feature works on the Lenovo Legion Go S, which is an officially licensed SteamOS handheld, but there’s no sign of it, so it looks like this will be exclusive to the Steam Deck for now.
It may well eventually come all the way to SteamOS, which could prove beneficial for clones like Bazzite on Windows handhelds like the ROG Xbox Ally X, especially as a request that gamers on Windows 10 and Windows 11 have been voicing for years.
Analysis: Microsoft, now is the time to work on a true sleep and resume feature
I applaud Microsoft’s efforts to attempt a handheld-friendly Windows 11 mode with Full Screen Experience (FSE), and while I’m not particularly interested in using it instead of SteamOS, now would be the ideal time for it to get a sleep-resume feature.
Valve’s SteamOS is constantly growing with new features, and there’s no arguing that it’s dominating the new FSE mode from Microsoft. Since the Xbox Series X | S consoles have both quick resume features. It’s reasonable for fans to expect Microsoft to get this up and running on Windows 11 in some capacity, at least with the ROG Xbox Ally handheld, but there’s been no luck so far.
Although there is already a framework established for Windows from the Xbox consoles for quick resuming, there is not one for putting systems to sleep. Well, I should say there is one for Windows 11, but it doesn’t and has never worked very well, as resuming while in-game almost always ends up resulting in game crashes or weird UI errors.
I’m just glad that Valve isn’t slowing down on bolstering its Steam Deck handheld and SteamOS, as that will only increase the pressure on Microsoft to improve its new FSE, and hopefully in a quick way.
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