Leverage Modern Browsers in In-Game Overlay

[ILoveMyWife]

Hello,

This suggestion is a little more technical, but Steam doesn't regularly update its browser functionality in the In-Game Overlay. The problem is that some web browsers have features that need to leverage the latest browser features, such as Google's security requirements for logging in. However, it's understandable if Valve doesn't have enough resources to maintain it.

What if you somehow embed modern web browsers in the Overlay? One way to do this is to leverage the operating system's default browser. Another way to do this could be to leverage the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) but somehow make the user's computer maintain the updates. By doing either, Steam will get "free" browser updates from the user's web browser while ensuring they provide the user with the latest browser features.

[rawWwRrr]

Oprindeligt skrevet af Mysic:

The problem is that some web browsers have features that need to leverage the latest browser features, such as Google's security requirements for logging in. However, it's understandable if Valve doesn't have enough resources to maintain it.

The CEF is rather up to date. The issue with Google is it prevents all embedded browsers from logging into a Google account. This is not unique to Steam.

Oprindeligt skrevet af Mysic:

What if you somehow embed modern web browsers in the Overlay? One way to do this is to leverage the operating system's default browser. Another way to do this could be to leverage the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) but somehow make the user's computer maintain the updates. By doing either, Steam will get "free" browser updates from the user's web browser while ensuring they provide the user with the latest browser features.

But you're still stuck with the browser being embedded which is something Google doesn't want used to log into their accounts. This it prevent Man-in-the-Middle attacks.

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/7675428

To help protect your account, Google doesn’t let you sign in from some browsers. Google might stop sign-ins from browsers that:

Don’t support JavaScript or have JavaScript turned off
Have unsecure or unsupported extensions added
Are being controlled through software automation rather than a human
Are embedded in a different application

So it's not a technical issue that Valve devs can overcome. Google must allow it which they won't.

[ILoveMyWife]

Yeah, that's correct. Steam does use CEF, and its version is nearly the latest, so the issue is Google's security policy, not the browser itself.

Thank you for giving clarity to this.