Deckback
by properrr
Living-room video client for Steam Deck, Game Mode native
About
Deckback is an unofficial native TV-interface video client for the Steam Deck. It runs the living-room ("Leanback") web app in a Chromium-based Cobalt shell tuned for Game Mode: controller input, hardware video decode, and sleep/resume are handled at the embedder layer. Built for the couch, not the desktop: - Controller-native — every button is mapped at the launcher, no touchscreen required - Chapter seeking — jump between chapters with the L2 and R2 triggers - Fast list traversal on the right stick, with an analog speed ramp - Closed captions on the View button, with your preferred languages remembered - Touch gestures, off by default — swipe to move, tap to select, double-tap to seek, hold left or right for slow motion or 2x, swipe in from the left edge to go back - An in-app Settings menu on the Menu button: controls, captions, updates and exit - Hardware VP9 decode for cool, battery-friendly 720p60 playback - Suspend and resume with the power button; audio and video restored on wake - Stays awake while you watch, and lets the screen sleep when you do not - Launches straight into Game Mode with a persistent sign-in - Built-in updates — Deckback notices new versions and can update itself - Actively developed — more couch-friendly features are on the way This is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google or YouTube.
Permissions
3 permissions weaken the sandbox. Flatsonar asks before installing.
- X11 display: X11 lets apps read input and windows of other apps
--socket=x11 - raw input devices (keyboards, mice, gamepads)
--device=input - session management (logout, suspend)
--system-talk-name=org.freedesktop.login1 - require-version 1.16.0
--require-version=1.16.0 - network
--share=network - inter-process communication (needed for X11)
--share=ipc - audio
--socket=pulseaudio - GPU acceleration
--device=dri - screensaver inhibit
--talk-name=org.freedesktop.ScreenSaver - access to xdg-run/pipewire-0
--filesystem=xdg-run/pipewire-0:ro - sets environment variable DECKBACK_COBALT_BIN
--env=DECKBACK_COBALT_BIN=/app/bin/cobalt-zypak
Who publishes this
The creator demonstrably controls this app id: Flathub verification, the hosting account owns the namespace, or a well-known file on their domain.
- downloads github.com at install time, after any scan has run
source:extra-data - hosted by github.com/properrr, which owns the io.github namespace of io.github.properrr.deckback
publisher:namespace
Maintenance
Recent activity on the upstream repository, or built and reviewed by Flathub.
No staleness signals: recent activity, or built and reviewed by Flathub.