I’ve been waiting weeks to be able to play via steam link without the mouse key registering as enter. I hope this releases to official release instead of beta soon because it’s difficult to try to get Steam link beta to work on a firestick

It works as long as I don't enable the performance graph. If I do, it turns into a stuttery mess with up to 50% frame loss. If the graphs are disabled, it actually runs pretty smooth. I use a Samsung s23 connected to wifi 6e and it eats about 600mbps @2340x1080, 120fps.

This version caused issues for me for the first time. Samsung Android Tab S9 FE using a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Steam Big Picture would periodically drop the mouse (midscroll, cursor would disappear and mouse would not be present.)

In-Game mouse movement would not register at all; though certain games - like Hellraiser - would allow mouse navigation on the menu, but fail to register in game. No changes to anything else besides the latest Google Play Beta build on October 5th.

I reverted to the last stable build and everything works again. I tried to eliminate everything on my side before reporting, so I believe this to be directly related to the latest beta build.

Originally posted by Dr. Seuss of Porn:

This version caused issues for me for the first time.

Okay, managed to reproduce this on one of the Samsung tablets here, and figured out a fix. There'll be another beta in the next day or so; let us know if that fixes it for you.

Originally posted by Packetdancer:

Originally posted by Dr. Seuss of Porn:

This version caused issues for me for the first time.

Okay, managed to reproduce this on one of the Samsung tablets here, and figured out a fix. There'll be another beta in the next day or so; let us know if that fixes it for you.

Thx for change aspect ratio behavior when 'Start Streaming'

i'd simply quick test, but if you press 'quite streaming' and re-connect to host that still running game/app, those 'resolution picking' behavior working like previous issued state, pick 1440x900 resolution instead of client side targeting resolution 1920x1080 setting.

if user didn't select 'quit game' or 'quit entire streaming session', seems resolution select behavior when reconnect in session is still working same as previous versions.

(so concluded cutted out game render/output window and fullscreen, and also steam client's GUI render and webbrowser are glitched with actual UI cordinations. that usual behavior when resolution changed during app render same targeting outputs in windows)

if QA test only run on virtual display, please try on dummy dongle or lower resolution cheap display(1080p60 SDR kinds) for physical tests.

Originally posted by slouken:

The next version of Steam Link for Android is now available as a beta build.

You can download it from Google Play by opting into the beta here:
https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.valvesoftware.steamlink

Or downloading directly from Valve here:
https://media.steampowered.com/steamlink/android/latest/steamlink-android.apk

A new video codec, Pyrowave, is available in the custom streaming settings. It is experimental and your experience will vary greatly depending on your network connection. We're evaluating whether this is generally useful for people and whether it should be available as an option for mobile devices.

You can find out more, and leave us feedback here:
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/homestream/discussions/0/564794422009744473

Changes in build 1.4.0.318:

• Added an experimental video codec, Pyrowave, which allows high bandwidth, low latency video streaming. (requires connecting to the latest Steam beta on the desktop)
  
• Added a network health check while streaming
  
• Automatic display resolution does a better job of matching the actual display resolution, up to 1080p
  
• Fixed mouse button clicks generating an Enter key press
  
• Detect video resolution changes when using AV1

in my case, tested on 4k@144 HDR physical monitor with 1080p60 SDR dummy dongle(deactivated from windows that only activated when turn off the physical monitor -> windows activate it to avoid headless state until physical display ON -> streaming start)

when Streaming Start with 'Physical Monitor is ON state', Physical Monitor is only have 16:9 resolution profiles, so SteamLink Client picking 16:9 same as setting values.

but if you Streaming Start with 'Physical Monitor is Off State', Dummy Dongle had various aspect ratio profile, and Steam Link Client keep forcing Client Device's Physical Aspect Ratio either which value that user setting in Steam Client side setting.

seems Behavior Changes that still prioriety on Physical resolution of Android/iOS devices, not the aspect ratio of user setted in Client sides.

guess steam side virtual display related functions are not yet for everyone so.. bet many peoples like me still rely on cheap dummy dongle i guess..
just add 'aspect ratio' option in steam link client software might be only reliable workaround before fundamentally fix this issues.


also minor issue i'd found that when streaming session ended, session should be turn Windows's HDR On state, but seems only depends on 'activated (dummydongled)display' when read the HDR/SDR value, that always user need to manually turn on HDR again after streaming session off.

steam itself won't recorgnize it is dummy or physical, and dummy dongle's purpose itself is like that, so this might be not the issue when activate both display, but peoples who bought dummy dongle for only steam link streaming, they're almost everyone turn that off from windows for avoid cursor or window dragged out to virtual display area.

so current methods are might be not the ideal solution for steam link, need that 'virtual display adaptor intergrated in steam' really need to avoid these kind limitations..

even if steam bring 'own realization' of headless/virtual display device and driver, bet microsoft side won't consider them in windows. (fairly won't co-operate in simple windows hibernation/power saving kind of functions)
just like valve eventually add own input layer and virtual audio loop for own streaming solution, then microsoft deal those in windows 10/11 with new input api much later.. same 'many years late' loop will happen when consider microsoft ride big slop on quit out all B2C area like xbox, windows, office then focusing on LLM business.

at this rate, guess i should quit the steam link and use other suspicious malware intergrated low secured opensource solution with risks of CPU ban from anticheats?

i'm mainly purpose on just 'in-home streaming' case but if other peoples like typical american who connect 400km away from home.. guess there's no way to avoid issues to them in current state.

maybe i'm the only who blame this part of service as seriously, valve is small efficiency company that few smart peoples working on it, and can't deal with massive scale real world tests like giant companies..
sometimes it feels like other form of 'falling on own trap pit of huge size company'.

There's a noticeable delay using steam link on the Odin Portal 2. At first I thought it might've been the pyrowave codec but it's apparently still present in HEVC or AV1. I'm getting 30-50ms steady state display latency as well as 30-50% frame drops. Ping is around 3-6ms.

By comparison, using Moonlight on the same device shows no lag and around single digit display latency.

What're the requirements for pyrowave on the android side? I've got a google tv streamer 4k and a galaxy tab S8+ and both have pyrowave showing as "Not Available". I've got it enabled on the desktop side in the steam client.

...I found where it's said that "Vulkan 1.3 and some extensions" are required
My tablet only supports 1.1 but the Google TV box reports 1.3.0 for its PowerVR Rogue GE9215. What extensions are required?

Originally posted by Packetdancer:

Originally posted by Dr. Seuss of Porn:

This version caused issues for me for the first time.

Okay, managed to reproduce this on one of the Samsung tablets here, and figured out a fix. There'll be another beta in the next day or so; let us know if that fixes it for you.

Thanks for the prompt response. I'll keep an eye out for the next release and give it a try.

How did you guys get it on your tv i applied for beta in my browser on my phone same account as tv and now its nut updating my steam link app on tv i wish i could have pyrowave

Originally posted by KAAS_KROKET:

How did you guys get it on your tv i applied for beta in my browser on my phone same account as tv and now its nut updating my steam link app on tv i wish i could have pyrowave

check the play store for an update, automatic doesnt always mean instantly

Hello Steam Link team!

I would like to request a new display option for Steam Link on Android called "Stretch to Fill Screen".

Currently, when streaming PC games to a phone with a different aspect ratio, black bars appear on the sides of the screen.

Please add an option that allows users to:

- Stretch the image to fill 100% of the phone's screen.
- Remove black bars completely.
- Keep the entire image visible without cropping any edges.
- Automatically adapt the image to any phone screen size or aspect ratio.
- Enable or disable this feature in the Steam Link settings.

I understand that stretching the image may cause some distortion, but I would prefer having the choice to use the entire screen.

This would make Steam Link much better for gaming on modern Android phones with wider displays.

Thank you for considering this feature!

Hello Steam Link team,

I've been experiencing severe stuttering with the newer versions of Steam Link on my Android TV. I hoped the latest experimental build linked in this discussion would fix it, but unfortunately, the issue is still present.

I've tested both version 1.3.32 and the latest experimental build linked here, and both exhibit the same problem. Downgrading to 1.3.20 completely resolved it.

I spent quite some time troubleshooting this with the help of ai chat. I'm technically inclined, but Android TV isn't my area of expertise, so I needed some assistance with the diagnostics.

A very similar issue has also been reported here:
Similar Steam Link stuttering issue on Android TV

Below is the technical report I put together with ai chat's help. Hopefully, it contains some useful information rather than just ai-slop.


TV: Philips OLED706 (2021)
OS: Android TV 11 (SDK 30)
SoC: MediaTek MT5895
Firmware fingerprint: Philips/PH1M_EA_9970A/PH1M_EA_9970A:11/RTT2.211108.001/21029:user/release-keys
Affected Steam Link versions: 1.3.32 and the latest experimental build linked in this discussion
Confirmed working version: 1.3.20


Streaming initially works smoothly. After a few minutes, severe stuttering develops, and the red display-latency line in Steam Link's detailed performance overlay shows large spikes.

The problem progressively worsens, while the network-latency line remains low.

Pressing the HOME button on the TV remote and immediately returning to Steam Link temporarily restores smooth playback. Changing streaming settings can also temporarily restore smoothness, but the issue returns after a few minutes.


- Tested both HEVC/H.265 and AVC/H.264 hardware decoding.
- Tested software decoding with H.264 at 720p/60 FPS.
- The issue persisted across these configurations.
- Changing network and streaming-resolution settings did not resolve the problem.
- Collected Android logcat, SurfaceFlinger, display, CPU, memory, and thermal diagnostics while reproducing the issue.


Steam Link repeatedly reports messages such as:

Video overflow (300.29ms queued), requesting keyframe synchronization
Dropping old frames due to codec reset
Beginning to drop frames ... we're behind by 81920 us

The H.264 log contains 119 video-overflow messages and 117 messages about dropping old frames due to codec resets.

The HOME-button workaround triggers Android surface destruction and recreation, followed by a decoder reset.

SurfaceFlinger and display snapshots did not reveal any display refresh-rate changes or clear evidence of a system-wide composition failure.

The thermal service did not report throttling, although the thermal HAL was unavailable, so actual temperatures could not be verified.


I uninstalled Steam Link 1.3.32 and installed version 1.3.20 on the same television.

Streaming became perfectly smooth, with no recurrence of the previously observed progressive stuttering during my testing.

I subsequently tested the latest experimental build linked in this discussion, but unfortunately, the same stuttering issue returned.

This strongly suggests a regression introduced after 1.3.20 in the Android TV client, potentially affecting frame scheduling, buffering, or the video presentation pipeline.

I have the Android logcat and other diagnostic logs saved and can provide them if needed.

Thanks for your work on Steam Link! I hope these findings help narrow down the issue.