Ending support for -no-browser and -noreactlogin

[Programmer Joe]

This topic is about command line options in the Steam client. A few advanced users add command line options to change how their Steam client works. If you haven't done so, you can safely ignore this whole subject. For people who do use command line options, and specifically -noreactlogin or -no-browser, we would like to learn what you're using them for. If something isn't working for you without these flags, please reply to this thread and let us know.

As of a recent client beta update we are ending support for the -noreactlogin and -no-browser command line options in the Steam Client. We expect these changes to be released to all Steam users sometime in January 2023. This concludes the journey of replacing an old framework that we began with Steam Chat, continued with the redesign of the Steam Library, and will continue with new features.

Removing these options

The -noreactlogin option was added during the new login UI beta as a way to flip back and forth during testing. This reverts to the old UI and has the effect of disabling login confirmations in the mobile app and QR code login.

Most users who use this option do so because there was a brief window where it was incompatible with -login, and that was not yet supported with the new UI. For those users, support for -login was restored in September.

Less than 1% of Steam users run -noreactlogin, but do not use -login. If you have some other reason for using -noreactlogin, we would love to hear from you. Please reply below and let us know why you're using this option.

An even smaller number of users run Steam with the -no-browser option. We added this option in 2015 when we were working through compatibility issues with SSE2 and SSE3. It disables the "steamwebhelper" process entirely, and with it most of the Steam UI. The store, community, and library tabs in the client stop working. Friends list and chat are disabled. By the end of the current beta period we expect essentially all of the Steam client to require browser support.

If you are a person who typically runs with -no-browser, please post below and let us know why you're using this option. We are not going to support this mode going forward, but we do want to fix any bugs that are causing you to run in this mode.

[rusty_dragon]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Axeking:

Of course, using the GOG launcher to get to my steam games has become a much more attractive option.

It still runs all the launchers in background, with GOG launcher on top of them.

[gauntlet_08]

I wish I saw this thread before these options were removed. I use -noreactlogin because I don't save passwords, I type them in. The new login UI checks the "Remember Password" box by default, and it's infuriating.

It's backwards design to automatically check the "Remember Password" box.
- If the box is unchecked by default, someone who wants an app to store their password only has to check the box *once*.
- If the box is checked by default, someone who doesn't want an app to store their password has to uncheck it *every single time* they login.

[wawawiwa]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Programmer Joe:

As of a recent client beta update we are ending support for the -noreactlogin

And here i though turning steam into reddit was the worst idea they ever come out with

[Kngnothing]

Steamwebhelper for some reason consumes ~20% of my CPU while gaming. That's why I use -no-browser.

[MagicMarmot]

Diposting pertama kali oleh rusty_dragon:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Axeking:

Of course, using the GOG launcher to get to my steam games has become a much more attractive option.

It still runs all the launchers in background, with GOG launcher on top of them.

Just came here to say after some testing - while it's true that the GOG launcher doesn't have a way to set launch options for a browserless client... the GOG launcher doesn't restart the web helper if you manually shut it down after launching a game so at least games that aren't playable through Steam after this regression are playable through GOG for now.

[oldfart]

Diposting pertama kali oleh *ඞCT-6969 Hentai Dealer:

The Steam browser unnecessarily eats huge chunks of CPU when not being used. ♥♥♥♥ off.

This. It's impossible to play online with the built-in web browser active.

[N00BA]

Return to old and light login screen, the new is so slooooowwwwwwly because its load QR code and blah blah blah, or Scribe above new login : "WELCOME TO OLD PS ONE LOADING SCREEN"

[oldfart]

Without -no-browser TF2 just stutters in my machine. Since it's pretty much the only reason I still have Steam installed, guess I will just download all my game library and cut the cord.

[607й]

Missing the old 2019 steam library? It would be great if it worked as an alternative to compact mode.

[N00BA]

Diposting pertama kali oleh deets:

How to downgrade Steam on Linux (as I have done, and I'm currently using -no-browser), you should be able to do the same on Windows just with different files/links, but I'm not sure what they would be.

Before you do anything, backup your current Steam (~/.local/share/Steam)

1: Get an old "steam_client_ubuntu12" file (media.steampowered.com/client/steam_client_ubuntu12), from somewhere like archive.org.

2: Download all the files from the manifest; prefix each "file" with "media.steampowered.com/client/", after formatting, use something like "wget -i" to download all the files at once.

3: Unzip all the files in the root Steam directory, overwriting existing files

4: Find any executable files and give them permission (using chmod +x <FILE>), such as any .sh files or files like "reaper", "disk-free", etc. You can use the

5: Create a new file called "steam.cfg" inside the root directory of Steam, add the following entries, this will prevent Steam from updating.

BootStrapperInhibitAll=enable
BootStrapperForceSelfUpdate=disable

6: Launch Steam with -no-browser! Make sure steamwebhelper/.sh has executable permissions if you want to switch to normal Steam.



Not sure how long the older client files are stored. The version I'm using is from December 2022 as I couldn't find anything newer.

Your steam.cfg Works great for me in windows 10! I always make a backup i have steam.exe backups 7.72.78.29 and 7.15.3.72 and works great thank you!

[]"]]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Programmer Joe:

If you are a person who typically runs with -no-browser, please post below and let us know why you're using this option. We are not going to support this mode going forward, but we do want to fix any bugs that are causing you to run in this mode.

Bug: When I start Steam in small mode (never opening the large mode library or any browser views), Steam still spawns 3+ chrome processes using 800+ MB RAM.

Workaround: Remove executable bit on steamwebhelper

---

"Piracy is almost always a service problem" - Gabe Newell, 2011

[MadMikael]

I've been using -noreactlogin since I discovered it, not long ago. I had no knowledge of this thread or the beta as described here.
The main reasons why I used the -noreactlogin:
- the new ui doesn't play nice with my old hardware; it takes much longer to load, and sometimes causes my system to hang to the point where I need task manager to kill the process
- even once the ui is on screen, I sometimes have to wait for a QR code to load (one that I never use and cannot seem to disable), and cannot interact with the ui until it does (or fails)
- the new ui seems to have issues with the "remember me" tickbox; sometimes it forgets me for no reason, or just doesn't seem to work at all
- I get more prompts to start in offline mode when running the new ui as opposed to running the old ui, citing connectivity issues

Please reconsider allowing the old ui for those of us who still use outdated hardware and os. You still sell games for those systems, so it's only logical to keep the low end ui for those systems.
While I've participated in the Steam "census" or whatever that sends my specs to Steam, that is my better hardware; when my gf comes over, one of us tends to use my older laptop that can only run older games. But neither of my systems enjoy loading the new ui.

[Joex]

I just updated Steam and notice that -noreactlogin doesn't work anymore. I have two reasons for using it:

1.
At first the new login couldn't remember just the username, which now it can.

2.
The most important one: it allowed me to login using the Steam Guard code that the push notification gave me, instead of having to grab my phone, unlock it, open steam guard and point my camera to the screen.

Now? The process is needlessly more tedious and slower. What I could do by just looking at my phone screen and copying the number became an, at least, 3 step process. It's longer and slower not just because the app can't for the love of god load quickly. I have to wait for it to open, then wait for the confirmation screen to load and then click the screen.

I don't mind having those options, they are great, but why does Steam have this need to absolutely ruin something that not only worked flawlessly for years, but it was a faster way to login? I don't get why the code had to became a third class citizen, hidden behind layers of menus neither why the need to force us to pick up the phone.
You didn't have to remove it at all or hide it so much, just make it another option.

[Yo]

now i have 150 cpu process not can play the game like so.....we protest about we need -no-browser again

[Doc]

Hi, while I don't use -no-browser on most of my machines, I value the option to have a version of steam running with minimal load (I don't have anything against CEF but it isn't the most lightweight thing out there) while still being able to run as a steam client. It can do all necessary functions expected for steam to be useful despite the mostly broken UI by using small mode and the built in steam console to manually use things the UI can't do in that mode, such as validate games or uninstall them.

This is in contrast to steamcmd standalone which afaik cannot properly authenticate you for games that utilize steamworks api as it's not designed to be a client.

I value the option to run steam this way for specific use cases, and I personally am not concerned if it doesn't exactly get maintained or functions such as steam chat or the store don't work correctly. It's as easy as removing the flag and relaunching steam if you really need one. I would appreciate if the flag could be left in as is for the forseeable future, bugs and all, or a similar functionality could be provided that optionally disables CEF. Regardless, thanks for reading