Steam Client Update Released

A minor update has been released for the Steam Client and will be automatically downloaded. This includes all changes previously released on November 12; for a full list, see the original update notes.

UPDATE: This client was re-released on Nov 25 for Mac OS X to fix a major issue with game libraries appearing to be empty.

General

• Fixed a UI display issue which affected certain systems running Big Picture
  

Mac OS X

• Fixed an issue which could cause the Steam Library to lose track of all installed games
  
• Fixed crash on shutdown
  
• Improved compatibility with Universal Access on OS X 10.9.5 and 10.10
  
  

Steam Client Update Released

An update has been released for the Steam Client and will be automatically downloaded.

General

• Add finer-grained download throttling settings
  
• Fixed crash in rich text controls
  
• Fixed setting passwords for private beta branches with no content change
  
• Added retail disc support for FreeOnDemand apps without cd-keys
  
• Fixed couple screenshot uploader bugs in displaying the number of characters left in caption
  
• Fixed Steam Cloud sync issues when re-launching a game immediately after exiting it
  
• Added support for playback of full screen HTML5 videos in the Web Browser
  
• Fixed a race condition that could lead to a crash in rare cases on Steam startup
  
• Screenshot manager dialog layout improved to account for longer localized strings
  
• Music background mask updated to improve foreground content legibility
  
• Fixed missing "repeat once" UI string in the desktop Music player
  
• Desktop client graphics updated (Big Picture controller icon, Background images)
  
• Fix performance problem with large numbers of concurrent p2p connections.
  

Big Picture

• Allow the controller related game launch prompt to be turned off for a game
  
• Fixed being able to add free games and free DLC to your library
  
• Added filtering of promotional messages by platform and controller type
  
• Fixed positioning of some Store carousels when running in low resolutions
  
• Added Early Access indicator to game panel in note section
  
• Added controller and OS support icons to DLC view
  
• Fixed getting stuck at Downloads page with no way to leave
  
• Store and Library improvements have been made to help users identify locally playable content. For more information, visit http://steamcommunity.com/groups/bigpicture#announcements.
  
• Locally playable content featured by default, as OS or input device warrants
  
• Store settings added to enable advanced users to view all Steam content, regardless of local playability
  
• Optional dropdown added to Store, to enable advanced users to quickly switch between viewing locally playable and all Steam content
  
• Search results display locally playable content first
  
• Notes, icons, and cart warning added to store views to indicate additional input and in-home streaming requirements, as applicable
  
• Library default view set to display locally playable games, as appropriate
  
• Improved playback of videos in the Web Browser
  
• Fixed youtube videos reloading when switching tabs in the Web Browser
  

Windows

• Fixed a race leading to a rare crash when exiting Steam on Windows
  
• Improved in-game overlay compatibility with some newer d3d11 games that utilize IDXGIFactory2 (Audiosurf 2)
  

Mac OS X

• Fixed the TAB key not working correctly in Web forms
  
• Retina display graphics improved (Checkboxes and radio buttons)
  

Linux

• Fixed web views not displaying if you run Steam under multiple OS user accounts
  

In-Home Streaming

• Fixed a regression preventing the stream from stopping when a game exits
  
• Fixed flickering on NVIDIA SLI host configurations
  

UGC

• Fixed crash when updating a Workshop item using the ISteamUGC interface with a NULL change description
  
• Cached retrieved guides displayed in the overlay
  

Steam Client Update Released

An update has been released for the Steam Client and will be automatically downloaded.

General

• Fixed error "Invalid Depot Config" while updating a game owned by multiple users on the same computer
  
• Improve voice chat protocol for multiple sessions
  
• Fixed "flushconfig" causing Steam to forget non-standard game install folders
  
• Fixed slow game startup when the game has many "deleted" files in the Steam Cloud
  
• Added preliminary support for games using the Mantle graphics API
  

Big Picture

• Added ability to set the search provider used when entering text into the Web Browsers url bar, under the Interface area in Options.
  
• Fixed a bug where known controller bindings would sometimes not be communicated to the game when Steam started in Big Picture mode
  

Steam Music Player

• Fixed saving out 'Media Keys enabled' on Windows
  
• Removed the setting for enabling media keys for OS X and Linux, because it is not available on these platforms
  
• Scanning for new music only on complete downloads, reducing the numbers of scans
  
• Fixed Settings > Interface > Set Taskbar Preferences
  
• Made usage of media keys optional, default is off
  
• Added plus button next to Album/Artist button to make it easier to add music
  
• Music scanner includes soundtracks in game directories containing "Sound Track" as name
  
• Fixed rare case of accidental grabbing focus on startup in 2' UI
  

In-Home Streaming

• Fixed gradual framerate drop over time
  
• Fixed not being able to stream if you copy a Steam installation to another computer
  

Linux

• Fixed gamepad entry repeating quickly when running under a locale that doesn't use the decimal point character for floating point numbers
  
• Changed Steam Cloud file paths to be preserve case instead of converting to lowercase. This will not retroactively affect files already synced to the cloud.
  
• Added default controller bindings for Xbox One controllers
  

Steam Client Update Released

(UPDATE: This update was re-released on Sep 29 to fix a crash issue with AMD Athlon XP and similar CPUs that do not support SSE2.)

An update has been released for the Steam Client and will be automatically downloaded.

Steam Music Player

• The Steam Music Player feature is now available for everyone, making it easy to listen to your music collection while you play games on Steam. For more information, visit Steam News. For product support, visit Steam Support.
  

General

• Added display of friends’ nicknames to notifications
  
• Added support for Family View recovery email address in Big Picture mode
  
• Added "I forgot my PIN" link to Family View unlock dialogs if a recovery email has been set
  
• Simplified the user interface of the main window
  
• Reduced energy usage when running in the background
  
• Fixed installing games using “-applaunch” or “steam://install” commands
  
• Fixed some cases where invalid URL strings would be parsed as URLs in chats
  
• Fixed some issues with Unicode handling inside links in chat
  
• Fixed regression that prevented public sharing of screenshots of non-Steam games
  
• Fixed install from retail disk for games with more than 4 DVDs, to use the data from all disks
  
• Fixed game banners not appearing in grid view while in offline mode
  
• Fixed hang in grid view when hitting enter with no game selected
  
• Fixed warning sound playing when unlocking Family View in desktop mode
  
• Fixed permissions issue preventing developers from uploading Workshop items to an app using the ISteamUGC interface, if they only had an auto-grant license for the app
  

In-Home Streaming

• Improved AMD hardware encoding quality
  
• Updated Streaming audio from Linux to use the default pulse audio sink if none is running at the time streaming starts
  
• Fixed rare crash with windowed game capture
  
• Fixed regression preventing Big Picture mode from responding after streaming a game
  
• Fixed regression preventing streaming to NVIDIA Shield
  

Windows

• Added support for additional caching of proxy auto-discovery results and better background detection of broken networks where auto-discovery fails and takes a long time to timeout
  
• Fixed failing to draw Web views into games that run as the elevated user when Steam wasn't also elevated
  

Mac OS X

• Updated some common user interface elements for Retina displays
  

Linux

• Fixed keyboard input for non-Latin languages in the Web view
  

Now it’s easy to listen to your music collection while you play games on Steam.

Point Steam to the MP3s on your computer, then browse your collection of albums and artists. You’ll also find your Steam Soundtracks DLC in your Steam Music library when the associated base game is installed. Listen to albums, queue up mixes, and create playlists you love, right in your Steam library. Best of all, it’s all available right within the Steam Overlay, so you can control playback without leaving your game. The Steam Music library and player consist of all the basics you need to enjoy your music without switching tasks.

To celebrate the release of the Steam Music, the following Valve soundtracks DLC are now available for free to those who own the related base games and documentary. In addition, the following Valve games are on sale for 75% off.*

75% off Half-Life | Free Soundtrack DLC
75% off Half-Life Two | Free Soundtrack DLC
75% off Half-Life Two: Episode One | Free Soundtrack DLC
75% off Half-Life Two: Episode Two | Free Soundtrack DLC
75% off Portal | Free Soundtrack DLC
75% off Portal 2 | Free Soundtrack DLC
Free to Play | Free Soundtrack DLC

Check the Steam Store for additional soundtracks to your favorite games.

We’d love to hear your feedback, feature requests, and ideas for where Steam Music should go next. Stay tuned, as we plan to add more features so you can experience Steam music in new ways. We’re just getting started.

*Offer ends October 1st at 10AM Pacific Time

An update has been released for the Steam Client and will be automatically downloaded.

General

• Fixed some password entry fields being too short for existing passwords
  
• Fixed games being installed to a different Steam Library folder than was indicated in the UI
  
• Fixed trade links causing Steam web views to become unresponsive
  
• Fixed incorrect scrollbar skins sometimes appearing in web views
  
• Fixed blurry text in web views under Windows
  
• Fixed a client hang when viewing a Library page with a corrupted workshop thumbnail image
  

Minor Changes

• Adjusted colors and other visual details per community feedback
  
• Improved handling of suspicious links in chat text
  
• Fixed small-mode UI not refreshing when new games are added to the library
  
• Fixed some UI selection issues when switching between downloads and games views
  

Mac OS X, Linux, and SteamOS

• Fixed frequent client crashes while playing peer-to-peer networking games
  
• Fixed client crashes when installing games or apps with many small files
  
• Improved client startup time and Steamworks API response time for games
  

Mac OS X only

• Fixed overlay compatibility issue with some games
  
• Fixed crash when displaying age-check and other dropdown menus in the client
  
• Fixed disconnections caused by OS X Mavericks putting Steam into "App Nap" mode, which prevents Steam from receiving chat and other network messages
  

Big Picture

• Fixed daisywheel text entry to continue generating capital letters while holding the left trigger
  
• Fixed a failure to capitalize the first word of a line when typing with daisywheel text entry
  
• Fixed some small memory leaks and decreased overall memory usage
  
• Fixed UI navigation errors in the friends invite panel for some users
  
• Fixed some navigation and transition issues in the profile and activity feed
  

In-Home Streaming

• Improved software decoder performance when using Intel QuickSync hardware encoding
  
• Fixed issue in the Windows DXVA decoder that could cause occasional black screen flashing
  
• Added Intel hardware decoding support using VAAPI on Linux and SteamOS. This requires the i386 intel-vaapi-driver package version 1.3.2 or newer to be installed on the client computer. This will be added to SteamOS in an upcoming update.
  

Virtual Reality Mode

• Enabled the Virtual Reality Mode menu option in more cases where it appears that the user has used VR before
  
• Added an item to the options menu to re-center the UI in front of the user
  
• Added error reports to make it easier for users to diagnose VR mode problems
  

An update has been released for the Steam Client and will be automatically downloaded.

General

• Updated desktop user interface styles, simplifying common controls and navigation elements, and neutralizing overall color palette to align with Steam web pages and Big Picture mode
  
• Major update of embedded web browser to increase performance, reliability, and to bring in various security fixes and functionality updates
  
• Work around to prevent duplicate key presses in some cases for games running inside Adobe AIR
  
• Don't delay content updates for games set to high priority
  
• Fixed in-game progress indicators for workshop downloads displaying incorrect percentages for compressed files
  
• Fixed mods and shortcuts not displaying their names correctly in the friends interface and server browser
  

Library

• Games can now be assigned to more than one category at a time
  
• Add "Hide this game in my library" functionality, accessible from the Set Categories menu. Games that are hidden will not show up in library filters except for a new filter called "Hidden", which will only appear once at least one game is marked as hidden. Hidden games are still available for play and will still appear on the user's profile.
  
• Add an "Uncategorized" filter in desktop library filter drop downs. This will appear when a user has at least one game in a category and at least one game that has no categories.
  
• In desktop library details, list, and small views, games can be multiply selected using shift-click and control-click and certain operations can be performed on the group
  
• Added install option to context menu for multiple selections
  
• When filtering by favorites or by owner, display only a single section instead of all the sections that the games are in.
  
• When adding a new category, scroll the category list to the bottom so we can see the category that was just added
  
• Added by-category filter options to the filter drop downs in all library views
  
• When switching between library views, remember the category of the game selected and retain it when possible
  
• In list view with game images selected, display the image on all instances of the game instead of only one
  
• Eliminate extraneous "Favorite" category when favorites are added from Set Categories instead of Add to Favorites
  
• Make type-to-search properly expand categories in list view. Better synchronize type to search between library views.
  
• Remove user categories from navigation bar hover menu. They are still available in the game filters drop-down in the library views.
  
• Add context menu to category headers in library views, containing "Expand All" and "Collapse All", and, in details/mini view, "Show/Hide Icons"
  
• Improve category collapse state synchronization between library views.
  
• Don't show hover effect on list items when a context menu is visible
  
• Add glow effect on hover to 2' library game filter button
  
• Retain selections when switching filters whenever possible
  
• Retain multiple selections when switching between details and list view
  
• Synchronize selection between main window library views and Small Mode.
  

Mac OS X

• This update ends support for Mac OS X 10.5
  
• Updated Big Picture to make use of the Spaces feature for full-screen mode
  
• On 10.9 and above ask the OS to prompt for Accessibility access to enable the overlay
  

Linux

• Updated Steam Runtime with support for newer compilers
  
• Added support for entering custom network settings in Big Picture
  
• Fixed audio being lost when alt-tabbing
  
• Fixed crash when doing a voice chat if you did not have a network connection
  
• Fixed launching SteamVR games
  

Big Picture

• Updated various visual styles across Big Picture including focus treatments
  
• Limit daisy wheel input to numeric entries where appropriate
  
• Improved gamepad navigation through checkout
  
• Fixed custom icons for streaming non-Steam games
  
• Fixed crash when enabling parental controls
  
• Fixed scroll bars disappearing on some EULA pages after scrolling to the left
  
• Fixed daisy wheel adding multiple periods after pressing space twice to end a sentence
  
• Fixed automatic capitalization getting stuck enabled in daisy wheel
  
• Fixed a bug preventing the user from changing payment methods if their stored credit card has expired
  
• Fixed crash on launching Big Picture if your PC has no sound card (or it is disabled)
  
• Fixed crash on game launch if you mashed the A button
  

In-Home Streaming

• Added support for NVIDIA hardware encoding for D3D9+ games on GeForce 650+ cards and the latest NVIDIA drivers. You can enable this by turning on hardware encoding in the advanced options on the host computer.
  
• Reset hardware encoding setting to default off, to minimize surprises now that NVIDIA encoding is available
  
• Added hardware accelerated decoding for Mac OS X 10.9 and 10.10
  
• Reset hardware decoding setting to default on for Windows and Linux, and default off for Mac OS X
  
• Improved software decoding performance for clients with multiple CPU cores
  
• Disabled vsync while streaming for a smoother capture framerate
  
• Fixed being able to scroll the right and bottom edges of a map in certain resolutions
  
• Fixed Steam crash streaming from a host with an i5-3450 CPU
  
• Fixed games detecting both local and streaming controllers; streaming controllers take precedence if they are connected.
  
• Fixed streaming games from Steam when it has been put in Windows XP compatibility mode
  
• Made it more clear that unlimited bandwidth increases latency and is not recommended
  

An update has been released for the Steam Client and will be automatically downloaded.


Overlay

• Fix flickering, slow performance, or failure to display for the in-game overlay when running a 64-bit game via Big Picture
  

An update has been released for the Steam Client and will be automatically downloaded.


General

• Fixed potential exploit reported in CVE-2014-4609
  

An update has been released for the Steam Client and will be automatically downloaded.


General

• Fixed Korean text being cut off
  
• Fixed running same install script multiple times
  
• Use new Steam Community search page
  
• Improve library sorting and type-to-jump for games that start with "A" or "An".
  
• Eliminate duplicate library entries for games with separate Mac and PC app IDs
  
• Improve library sort order for certain game series
  

In-Game Overlay

• Fix performance issues or possible failure when subscribed to guides with very large images
  

Mac OS X

• Reduce CPU usage when Big Picture mode is running off-screen in an inactive Space