Flatpak Integration in Steam Gaming Mode

[sigg]

As it works now, you need to go into desktop mode and launch Discover to download and update your flatpaks. If you want them in the gaming mode, you then have to add them as a non-Steam game and upload artworks if you want it to look nice. It's a lot of effort and not intuitive. I know more than one person who owns a Steam Deck that hasn't booted into desktop mode once and doesn't even know third party apps exist on the thing.

And worse of all, this is not up to standard with other console interfaces. If I want to download Spotify on my Playstation, I just navigate to the "Apps" section of PSN and it's there. I imagine many users expect this kind of user experience from the console-like interface on the Steam Deck. There is no reason why this functionality couldn't be replicated with flatpaks.

You could just add another tab to the Steam store which connects you to flathub. Handpick whatever apps you want from flathub to be on that tab, add some artwork that looks nice in the interface, and employ an update function in the settings. Even better, working with these third parties to make Steam Deck-optimized apps with controller support would be awesome. If other video game companies can convince Google, etc. to make console-exclusive apps I don't think this is very much of a stretch.

And while I'm here and I don't want to make a million separate threads
1. personally I feel switching to Desktop mode shouldn't be buried in the power menu, it should be a dedicated menu option. For visibility and intuitiveness.
2. There should be a button shortcut to switch between applications in Gamescope akin to Shift+Tab. Maybe even add a nice little animation.
3. Community power profiles when?
4. A Steam native version of ProtonDB[www.protondb.com] and Share Deck[sharedeck.games] fully integrated in the UI makes a lot of sense to me
5. Official plugin support akin to Decky[github.com] would be so sick

[Not Mr Flıbble]

1. Seconded. Not that it's hard to find, though.

2. Shift-Tab doesn't switch between applications, unless I specifically configure the window manager to do that; and if I do, I lose the “move back through the list of input items in the current window” function that many applications support.

4. Definitely ProtonDB. Share Deck looks like it would be useful too.

5. Indeed. Vomit all you like.

[mrdorianjames]

you can add discover store as a non-steam game but you still have to go to the desktop mode to add any application from the discover store as a non-setam game. i think it would be awesome to have an "add non-steam game" option from the gaming mode. IMO, the least i can do in desktop mode, the better.