Last week we saw Valve boost the Steam Frame’s battery life in a beta version of SteamOS. That boost, plus more, has now made it to the stable channel – meaning all users can enjoy the latest patch. Valve says there are “gains of up to 12%” in the new SteamOS 0.4 for Steam Frame patch, along with VR streaming improvements, a healthy list of general fixes, and audio and accessibility.

As a “streaming-first” wireless VR headset, Valve will no doubt keep improving the streaming aspect of the Steam Frame. We like to say that much of the Steam Deck’s staying power is thanks to its consistent updates to SteamOS (which now go hand-in-hand with the Steam Machine), so we can only expect the same kind of support for the new headset.

SteamOS 0.4 for Steam Frame patch notes

While the Steam Deck and Steam Machine are up to version 3.8.x (or 3.9.x for the early Preview versions), the Frame has its own new branch of SteamOS, due to running on ARM64 architecture. You can find full patch notes for the current version just below.

SteamOS 0.4 for Steam Frame has just been released for all users with the following changes:

Power:

• Improved power efficiency and battery lifetime during both streaming and local gameplay, with gains of up to 12%. Note: Result vary depending on framerate and content.
• Added user setting to control Presence Sensor Sensitivity (VR Settings -> Startup / Shutdown -> Presence Sensor). New “high sensitivity” option keeps displays on under a wider range of conditions, such as when using glasses spacers.

Streaming:

• Improved color clarity during VR streaming (fixed headset chroma regression)
• VR streaming reliability improvements, including fixes for “Error 17.” Note: On the PC, you must also opt into SteamVR 2.18.2 or later to reduce “Error 17” connection issues. At the time of this release, SteamVR 2.18.2 is available on the SteamVR [beta] branch.
• Fixed steam frame wireless adapter connectivity issues that affected users in some countries.
• Improved audio reliability while streaming
• Fixed rare cases of other network interfaces causing disruption of wireless dongle connection.
• Spectator view is now smoothed by default. Spectator view can be accessed on PC via Steam > Settings > Remote Play, or any device that supports Steam Link to preview what the Steam Frame user is seeing in headset.
• Fixed the keyboard not appearing while streaming.

General

• Fixed an issue that prevented controller bindings from loading for certain games, including Google Earth VR and Thumper.
• Improved focus behavior when interacting with grab/resize handles
• Improved focus handling and gamepad navigation in the dashboard.
• Fixed a case of dashboard panels flickering.
• Fixed “Return to Gaming mode” when starting up directly into Desktop mode.
• Added option to disable spectator view smoothing under VR Settings > Developer (in headset).
• Fixed an issue where the dashboard would recenter unnecessarily for some users.
• Updated embedded browser (CEF) with crash fixes and Linux H.264 detection fixes.
• Miscellaneous performance and stability improvements.
• Improved tooltip sort ordering

Audio:

• Audio: downmix and binaural rendering now have matching volume across all formats.

Accessibility

• Added accessibility option for users who want to limit eye tracking to a single eye. VR Settings -> General -> Track Dominant Eye Only. (requires enabling “show advanced settings”)
• Users can now specify their Dominant Eye in VR Settings. This controls which eye is used for spectator view, screenshots, etc.

Source: Steam

The number of Steam Frame users continues to grow as Valve works through the reservation queue. Based on user reports, the company sent out another wave of reservations at the end of September. More and more fans also report receiving their headset through sites such as steamframeout.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.