Steam Link

Valve Corporation

About this app

The Steam Link app brings desktop gaming to your Android device. Just pair a Bluetooth controller or Steam Controller to your device, connect to a computer running Steam, and start playing your existing Steam games.

For best performance with Android TV:
* Connect your computer using Ethernet to your router
* Connect your Android TV using Ethernet to your router

For best performance with tablets and phones:
* Connect your computer using Ethernet to your 5Ghz WiFi router
* Connect your Android device to the 5GHz band of your WiFi network
* Keep your Android device within a reasonable range of your router

Ratings and reviews

It generally works great.. It tries a little too hard to act as a controller, though, rather than letting the touchscreen be a mouse, and it attempts to outsmart the user by changing what input schemes are available based on what it thinks is happening, instead of letting the user control it. There's also an unfortunate tendency for windows update notifications to steal focus from the game at inconvenient times, but not to the point where one can actually dismiss them. Partly Microsoft's fault.

Really neat how you can use your phone to play games on your PC essentially like a remote desktop app, but I gotta say it's kinda dumb that you have to accept the connection *at the computer* in order to connect, when the whole reason for using the app is so you can access the PC when you're not at it. Kinda defeats the purpose of being a remote app.

Tried this years ago and it was a dumpster fire. Now I can play on the TV at home or on the tablet when traveling - performance is awesome. For best results: 1) Use a mainstream controller that gets lots of support (Xbox is ideal). 2) Ensure the games come from Steam and that they offer at least partial controller support (needed for touch too). 3) Go full hardwire if you can, but PC connected to router with a LAN cable is the minimum. If you compromise on these 3, your mileage will vary.

What's new

* Steam Link no longer unpairs from previous accounts when pairing to a new Steam account on the same computer
* Fixed a crash at startup when some types of controllers are connected
* Please report bugs and crashes here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/353380/discussions/4/