Thoughts on switching from link hardware to app on nvidia shield

[Xjph]

I recently picked up a nvidia shield TV pro, the new 2019 model, as a replacement for several boxes previously attached to my TV (Steam Link, PS3 aka Netflix machine, and cable box - cancelled my service).

As compared to using the Steam Link hardware using the Steam Link app on the shield is almost better in every way.
My display latency went from 25-40ms on the Steam Link hardware (depending on game) to reliably <16ms (less than one frame) in most games in the Steam Link app.
My visual quality also improved, since the App allows me to enable HEVC encoding.

Of course I did say "almost" above. The one downside is more of an issue with the Android OS than the Steam Link app directly, but it still impacts using it. Android intercepts the "guide" button on Xbox controllers and maps it to the Android "home" key, meaning it can't be used by any other app. The Steam Link app gets around this by mapping guide to double-tapping select/back, and select in turn to a select+B chord, but it's still kind of annoying. I have some serious questions for whoever it was at Google that thought there was a single person anywhere who wanted the controller guide button to be the android home key.
I also have a Steam Controller, which I'm happy to report that since Android doesn't recognise it, the guide button on it works correctly within the Steam Link app.

Naturally I also gave Nvidia Gamestream a spin, since I have it as an option now, and I wasn't really impressed. After seeing people here praise Gamestream to high heaven as being superior to the Steam Link maybe I just had my expectations set too high?
It worked well enough, but lacks the detailed performance information you can get from Steam Link, so I can't directly compare the display latency other than to say they felt similar. I didn't notice any difference in graphical quality in the little bit of testing I did, but that was hardly exhaustive.
The list of games that Gamestream automatically detected and supported was quite limited compared to Steam's selection of my entire steam library, and while you can simply start steam as a Gamestream "game" I found the quality of the stream took a significant hit when a game was started this way and it was much less smooth. Not unlike running games from the desktop view via the Steam Link.
I did prefer Gamestream's handling of the guide button issue. A long-press of start brings up an on-screen menu which includes a button to send a "guide" press to your PC. This long-press would also switch between the controller being a normal controller, or emulating mouse. A switch that could stand to be easier via Steam Link.
Gamestream obviously offers no support at all for the Steam Controller.

On the whole, I'm quite happy with the switch, it's noticeably better than the Steam Link hardware, and will probably continue to use the Steam Link app over Gamestream for most games.

Now I just need to find a good home for my old Steam Link hardware.

[Don Luis]

I logged to ask something similar and found your post. I'm trying to do the same thing as you combining all my boxes into one. I have a FireTV 4k with a ATVLauncher,
Works Ok. But View and Menu buttons in my Xbox controller don't work as they should. The menu does nothing and View is used as a context button.
I have to press View + A to get Menu and View + B to get View.
This is an issue in games that heavily depend on using Menu, Like Resident Evil Franchise
I'm replaying RE4 one of my all-time favorites, the menu is used to bring up the inventory and switch weapons, this is used all the time for crowd control and single targets. By using the combination I keep activating by accident incorrect combinations, Getting back to the game screen in the big picture and having to click "launch game" again to reconnect just to find my character is been destroyed by zombies it kills the experience. From your post, it seems the same issue exists in Nvidia shield. I'm thinking of purchasing a shield instead to replace the fireTV ONLY because of this menu item issue.
I'll like to see what others have done about this issue.

Does menu works when in Gamestream?
Can Gamestream be used in conjunction with Steam or is it one or other?

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[Xjph]

To quickly answer your direct questions first:

Originally posted by luisl:

Does menu works when in Gamestream?

Yes. View and Menu work normally in Gamestream, with the exception of a long press of Menu to bring up the Gamestream on-screen menu. The Guide button works normally in neither, with a double-press of view taking its place for Steam Link, and a long press of Menu then selecting it from the on screen display used in Gamestream.

Personally I like Gamestream's approach more, but I maintain that Android's OS level intercept of the Guide button is the real problem, and remains an insane decision on Google's part.

Can Gamestream be used in conjunction with Steam or is it one or other?

Yes, you can install the Steam Link app on a Shield TV and use either one as you please.

An alternative solution, though not really ideal, is to use a third party controller that Android doesn't recognise as an xbox controller. Without knowing which button is "guide" it won't intercept, and everything will work normally.

[Don Luis]

Thank you!. Now that you mentioned it I had a SteelSeries Stratus XL and the Menu button semed to work correctly unfortunately that gamepad lasted 1 day and had RMA.

I agree the problem is with Android. Wonder if it can be disabled using ADB commands.