MaxsTechReview
e31801df35
* Add your own apps to the Desktop page An Add tile on Desktop takes a .sh script, an AppImage, a GitHub repo (newest ARM64 AppImage release) or a Flatpak ID, with an optional name and icon. Script folders are linked into the session, or copied when they hold Linux programs (shared storage is noexec); folders outside internal storage are bound at their own path. Each app's page opens it under gamescope, edits its name and icon (with icons suggested from its GitHub repo), checks a GitHub app for a newer release and updates it in place, or removes it. Replaces the beta AppImages section. * Put Add at the end of the installable emulators Installed emulators and added apps keep the top section, shown once there is one. Add closes the installable grid, or the installed one when nothing is left to install. * Import DwarFS AppImages and their SVG icons uruntime images built with sharun keep one program under several names as hard links, which Android denies apps, so dwarfsextract aborted. The extraction runs with proot's link2symlink, and each linked name becomes a file of its own afterwards; their AppDir is followed through the squashfs-root link. An image's icon is a PNG of at least 128 px from the name its entry gives, else its SVG (drawn with AndroidSVG), else the largest PNG, else .DirIcon. * Give AppImages the session's pads sharun images start the app through their own ld.so, patched not to read /etc/ld.so.preload, and drop LD_PRELOAD unless allowed, so the app never loaded libfakeinput and saw no controller. The launcher now hands the preload list over in LD_PRELOAD with SHARUN_ALLOW_LD_PRELOAD set. Pad defaults also put Player 1 on the controller for yuzu-family emulators, once, while it is still on the keyboard. * Redesign the Add and Edit app dialogs Source and appearance sit in two panels side by side, with a live preview of the Desktop tile. A disabled primary button keeps an outline so it still reads as a button.
DroidDeck brings the SteamOS experience to Android: Valve's Steam client in Big Picture on your Adreno handheld, with Windows games through Valve's ARM64 Proton.
Requirements and install
Use Android 9 or newer on a supported Adreno device (730 or newer, or 8xx). Mali, Xclipse, PowerVR, and Adreno 710 are unsupported. No root is required. Allow about 3 GB for the runtime and 1.1 GB more for the desktop and emulators. Install the APK from Releases, install the Linux runtime, then press Play and sign in. Steam downloads on first launch. Install Desktop & apps to use the desktop and emulators. The Store installs Linux apps and games from Flathub (ARM64 builds) with Flatpak; see docs/development/flatpak.md.
On Android 12+, if Steam exits without a log, turn off Restrict child processes in Developer options.
Community
Join the DroidDeck Discord for help, Preview builds, and device reports. Bug reports go in its #bug-reports forum; attach the session folder from Download/DroidDeck/ so the logs come with it.
Build
Run tools/build_local.sh with Docker, Java 17, the Android SDK/NDK, and zstd installed. It builds the ARM64 audio sinks from PulseAudio 13.0 and packages them into the APK at app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk. Set DROIDDECK_PA13_SOURCE_DIR to an existing PulseAudio 13.0 source directory to skip downloading it. To install the APK on an attached device, run tools/deploy_local.sh.
Limits
Compatibility and performance vary by device; hardware validation is limited. Desktop compositing uses software rendering. Firefox sandboxing is reduced under proot. See the session logs in Download/DroidDeck/ when diagnosing problems.
Credits and licence
GPL-3.0. Runtime, shim, input, and controller work build on WinNative and Bannerlator (maxjivi05). LSFG frame generation is from the work of Camille LaVey and the Eden emulator project, following lsfg-vk, ported to WinNative and DroidDeck by @maxjivi05; it needs your own copy of Lossless Scaling and ships none of its shaders. See LICENSE. Steam and Proton belong to Valve Corporation; this project is not affiliated with Valve.