GamingOnLinux has reported a series of Steam Client Beta updates for Steam Deck and Steam Desktop between August 22 and August 23.

Since the Steam Deck's SteamOS 3 Steam Client is intrinsically linked to the OS itself, it makes sense that we're now seeing frequent, coinciding Steam Deck Beta updates that line up with the updates we're seeing over on the Desktop Steam Client Beta channel. Features like In-Game Recording get enabled for the Steam Client on Desktop and Deck in parallel, and the updated Big Picture Interface made its way from SteamOS 3 to desktop Steam earlier this year. 

As noted by GamingOnLinux in their coverage, there are some remarkable similarities between the patch notes for Deck and Desktop. Since the two versions of the Steam Client are now essentially being developed in parallel, this makes a lot of sense. There is no reason to allow Deck's Steam Client or Desktop's Steam Client to get ahead of the other after all— Valve still has a massive PC market to serve, and it's best to keep the experience as consistent as possible within reason.

Steam Deck Beta Client Changes for August 22 and August 23
  • General Change: Added global version of the "Game Resolution" dropdown that allows specific resolution targets to be set.
  • General Change: Added Sign Out to the Steam Deck Power Menu.
  • Desktop Overlay Fix: Desktop Overlay in SteamOS 3 now properly reads Escape Key instead of dismissing the Overlay. 
  • Steam Input Fix: Fixed Steam Link Mobile App Touch Controller automatic cursor visibility issues.
  • Steam Input Fix: Fixed an issue were modifying Steam Input configs could cause game crashes.
  • Game Recording Fix: Fixed an issue where the last second of a given clip or recording couldn't be unpaused.
  • Game Recording Fix: Improved error reporting functionality.
  • Game Recording Change: Added list view to media manager.
  • Game Recording Change: Added the ability to enable/dis able recording per-game.
  • Game Recording Change: Added the ability to set duration and bitrate of recordings per-game (ie long duration single player, short duration multiplayer, vice versa, etc).
  • Game Recording Fix: Fixed an issue where per-game recording settings weren't being used.
  • Game Recording Fix: Fixed media manager list view not updating.
    • Steam Desktop Beta Client Changes for August 22 and August 23*
  • General Change: Fixed a crash caused by adding a Steam Library folder from a network drive.
  • Linux Change: Fixed the Store Page not rendering on some Nvidia GPUs.
  • Steam Input Fix: Fixed Steam Link Mobile App Touch Controller automatic cursor visibility issues.
  • Steam Input Fix: Steam Input should now properly intercept Escape keypresses instead of as a prompt to close the active overlay.
  • Steam Input Fix: Fixed a Desktop-Deck cross-compatibility issue where changing a Steam Input config could cause a crash.
  • Game Recording Fix: Fixed an issue where the last second of a given clip or recording couldn't be unpaused.
  • Game Recording Fix: Improved error reporting functionality.
  • Game Recording Change: Added list view to media manager.
  • Game Recording Change: Added the ability to enable/disable recording per-game.
  • Game Recording Change: Added the ability to set duration and bitrate of recordings per-game (ie long duration single player, short duration multiplayer, vice versa, etc).
  • Game Recording Fix: Fixed an issue where per-game recording settings weren't being used.
  • Game Recording Fix: Fixed media manager list view not updating.
  • Game Recording Fix: Copy to Clipboard for Screenshots now functions properly.

    • *Note: Many of these patch notes are near-identical to the ones for the Deck, for reasons discussed above.

    Overall, this week's set of Steam Client Beta updates shows that the ongoing development of Steam Deck, SteamOS 3, and the Steam Client is now more interconnected than ever. For quite a long time, there was a significant disparity between Deck's SteamOS 3 and its Steam Client compared to the Desktop experience enjoyed by everyone else, but now it seems we are well and truly past that.