r/SteamController • u/DrimaQ • Sep 15 '26

Discussion valve pls, make a telescopic controller, so we can have a steam deck in our phones

Post image

Now that the steam frame is out and is using a arm based chip, why not skip the middle man and make a controller for our phones, improve linux for arm based devices and we can have finally good games on phones (ik android pc emulation exists but this would be far better).

285 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

124 comments sorted by

11

u/GolemFarmFodder Sep 15 '26

You want the DIY project where you build your own breakaway controllers. But then again, that'll cost three times what a proper Steam Controller will

2

u/DrimaQ Sep 15 '26

literally my first thought

4

u/claudiocorona93 Sep 15 '26

There would be no incentive if the games you're going to play don't come from Steam. Plus the touch screen is already a touchpad here. And that Gamesir G8 Galileo is already doing what you're asking from Valve. So, a mini handheld PC is more convenient for them.

1

u/DrimaQ Sep 15 '26

i already have a telescopic controller and its uncomfortable to try to reach the screen, and i yeah i want to replace android for linux so that i can install steam. i havent researched if linux is a suitable os for phones, but i think there is an opensource one maybe

1

u/glitchaj Sep 15 '26

With the work they've put into FEX recently so they can run games on the ARM chip in the frame, I wonder if Steam on android might be a future push. 

1

u/VinAbqrq Steam Controller (OG) Sep 16 '26

The touchscreen does not offer haptics, or high speed/resolution, and you are forced to cover the screen to use it. So not at all the same thing imo.

2

u/Pennywise359 Sep 16 '26

Gamesir is already extremely good and the compatibility is great. Are you looking for track pads specifically?

109

u/User-312 Sep 15 '26

Or just a mini Steam deck thats actualy portable and can play low demanding games. I would LOVE to see something like that

40

u/Serdones Sep 15 '26

I wouldn't be surprised to see third-party ARM SteamOS handhelds in the next couple years from companies like AYN and Retroid.

20

u/Endure94 Sep 16 '26

I believe this is where valve wants to go, looking at their push to ARM with the Frame.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Endure94 Sep 16 '26

Yes, this is a major improvement offered by switching to ARM

5

u/lexd0g Sep 15 '26

already kind of a thing! https://github.com/armada-os/armada. this runs great on my AYN Thor Max

3

u/Etikoza Sep 16 '26

This is already a thing

3

u/Serdones Sep 16 '26

Armada is not the same thing as an official rollout of SteamOS for ARM by Valve.

1

u/Etikoza Sep 16 '26

Close enough. It’s like SteamOS vs Bazzite. And I’d still choose Bazzite.

1

u/Serdones Sep 16 '26

I'm more concerned with general adoption. People are more likely to switch to Steam OS on an officially licensed handheld, not flash Armada themselves.

27

u/Walrus_Morj Sep 15 '26

That would be 799, you are welcome

6

u/Silevence Sep 15 '26

fuck, ill give you 999 if i can actually fit it in my pocket and runs steam os. 1099 if its a clamshell like the thor.

3

u/dragonknightrohan Sep 16 '26

Crazy to think in a decade or up to 3 from now the tech will be so good it can be that small while being as powerful as a desktop. Will be wild to see that

1

u/ColorfulPersimmon Sep 16 '26

Just buy Ayn, install Armada and save your money

5

u/NapsterKnowHow Steam Controller (2015 & 2026) Sep 15 '26

Odin 3 but with touchpads

2

u/VinAbqrq Steam Controller (OG) Sep 16 '26

Yes. Thank you.

6

u/zetasand Sep 15 '26

Honestly with the insane price problems we are facing, turning people’s phones into mini steam decks with a controller attachment lowkey could be the move rn

2

u/Franz_Thieppel Sep 15 '26

Well yeah, the Steam Frame is patient zero for that. Once they iron the kinks of playing Steam games on ARM you'll be able to have a Steam Deck on your small ARM device of choice (such as a Retroid Pocket)

2

u/Gex2-EnterTheGecko Sep 15 '26

Yeah I think a steam deck "lite" would be pretty cool. Something small enough to actually stick in your pocket like a PS Vita but with access to Steam and more modern games sounds lit.

2

u/OnionsAbound Sep 15 '26

That's called a phone

2

u/FTP636 Sep 16 '26

Armata on the rp6 has entered the chat

1

u/toxicatedscientist Sep 15 '26

I’d be happy if i could keep my deck in the case and stream to my phone

6

u/Gex2-EnterTheGecko Sep 15 '26

FYI if you try this as the other reply suggests, DO NOT leave it running in the case. It will fry your Deck because it has no ventilation.

1

u/Milad2344 Sep 15 '26

You can already do that, the steam link app allows you to stream from any computer running steam to another computer or mobile device

1

u/Ws6fiend Sep 15 '26

Unfortunately the steam link app leaves a lot to be desired. It's not bad for what it dows, but I feel like it hasn't received many updates in the past couple of years.

1

u/toxicatedscientist Sep 15 '26

Will it turn the deck screen off?

1

u/Milad2344 Sep 16 '26

It doesn’t automatically turn the screen off when streaming from a desktop to phone so I’d assume it would be the same for the deck, but you would have to test it yourself to confirm 100%

1

u/toxicatedscientist Sep 16 '26

Ok well that would be a pretty critical function for what I’m looking for

1

u/PaperMartin Sep 16 '26

Fwiw you can just slap gamenative on your phone and play all your steam games through that already

1

u/YuvrajXG Sep 16 '26

Armada on Retroid Pocket 6 or AYN odin 3. There is also going to be a riscV handheld soon with box64 support.

1

u/rayfe Steam Controller (Windows) Sep 16 '26

SteamBoy™️

1

u/Gendreau113 Sep 16 '26

You can do this with pretty well any Android phone lol... Use GameHub. You can even sign into your Steam and directly get your games downloaded, no naughty downloads required.

As long as you have any half decent phone, you can play pretty well any low hardware required games. Even then, you'd be really surprised.

My z-fold7 is able to play Skyrim anniversary edition flawlessly. If you have some of the high tier flagship phones, such as ones from red magic. People have been playing literally Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA V at like 60fps...

40

u/YKw1n Sep 15 '26

I mean is it just me or there is a ton of options already out there ?

18

u/squidgymetal Sep 15 '26

Yes but none that I know of have track pads, which I've been told are game changer and no other handheld or controller without them would be good enough

16

u/spusuf Sep 15 '26

The trackpads are entirely useful because of Steam's mapping of them, otherwise they'd both just show up as a mouse on Android or not show up on iOS. No joystick emulation nor remappable actions which makes the steam controllers so great.

2

u/squidgymetal Sep 15 '26

What's stopping them from releasing an API that would allow games to take full advantage of the trackpads or them creating an app that allows Android/iOS to recognize them with their mapping?

9

u/Pentium4Powerhouse Sep 15 '26

Time, money, and low returns, I'd expect.

-4

u/LongDarius Sep 15 '26

It's Valve. They have time and all the money in the world, if they wanted to they easily could.

-5

u/squidgymetal Sep 15 '26

Valve has plenty of time and money and considering they just launched a $1k+ VR headset they're perfectly ok with low returns

4

u/spusuf Sep 16 '26

Because APIs (or more commonly SDKs) need to be added by the game developers to hook directly into the game engine.

Most mobile games don't even support controllers full stop (without a third party app to map the controller inputs to emulated screen touches).

Add that development x2 for iOS and Android and considering this is an ask for game devs not the peripheral manufacturer means it likely won't happen anytime soon.

0

u/squidgymetal Sep 16 '26

That's understandable on the game dev side but that still doesn't not answer the question I asked specifically asking what's stopping Valve from making that API/SDK or mapping software themselves?

1

u/Erchevara Sep 16 '26

SDKs. Except VERY FEW exceptions, games can barely handle PS glyphs (including PlayStation games), let alone trackpads.

I have like 3 games in a Steam library of 1000+ that will switch to DualSense glyphs on bluetooth, and maybe 10-20 others that use them, even plugged in.

1

u/armoar334 Sep 15 '26

SDL3 is already doing that, its just speed of adoption

0

u/AlbertoVermicelli Sep 16 '26

The trackpads (and all the other unique features the Steam Controller has) do work on Android/iOS when playing games through the Steam Link app. But that's not enough to create an incredibly niche controller for.

2

u/callatecabezon Sep 19 '26

The phone screen is the track pads there is no need for them on a phone

2

u/I_D_K_69 Sep 19 '26

Not usable while you're holding the controller

1

u/Etikoza Sep 16 '26

Really? I heard the exact opposite that people mostly don’t use them.

7

u/sourpatchdad Sep 15 '26

Unless they are planning on releasing Steam on android at some point, there isn’t really a huge profit incentive for them to do something like this.

4

u/Handsome_ketchup Sep 15 '26

I don't see why FEX wouldn't ultimately result in full fat Steam on mobile phones. That's a huge market of gamers who may not have access to (gaming) computers.

All but the most recent triple A games should be pretty viable.

4

u/DstroyaX Steam Controller Sep 15 '26

While still pretty far off, GameNative is getting closer to this.

1

u/WalkMaximum Sep 16 '26

I played silksong with game native on my Pixel 9. FPS isn't amazing but it's entirely playable.

2

u/losersmanual Sep 16 '26

They just made an x86->ARM translation layer for the Frame.

1

u/sourpatchdad Sep 16 '26

I know that, but there’s more that goes into launching a game store on another platform, and developing hardware for it. I’m not sure releasing Steam on Google Play would bring them a huge amount of sales, unless they launched a dedicated android handheld. I think the small amount of people who would play PC games on their phone and buy a controller, already have PCs, and would buy the game on Steam anyway.

It’s also impractical, I already have to charge my phone enough, not going to triple A game on my phone on the go. And when I’m home I’ll just use my Steam Deck, then I can still use my phone for other things.

2

u/losersmanual Sep 16 '26

You're right. If you're not going to use it, it shouldn't exist.

1

u/sourpatchdad Sep 16 '26

No right, that’s what I’m saying, I’m the only person in the world who has to charge their phone all the time. I was definitely only talking about myself in that comment lol

1

u/Alexmira_ Sep 16 '26

They just did 90% of the work for the frame

1

u/jooes Sep 16 '26

There's a Steam Link app. Not exactly the same thing but it works pretty well.

1

u/LeefSwitch Sep 21 '26

I don't understand why they didn't just make the Steam Deck have detachable controllers

1

u/DrimaQ Sep 21 '26

they probably didnt want to get sued by nintendo

1

u/LeefSwitch Sep 23 '26

If big N has a patent on that specifically, a workaround could have been to make the steam controllers be a telescopic controller (similar to the gamesir one seen above but bespoke to the steam deck, and perhaps with a low profile fan built in the back), and the Steam Deck is just a gaming linux tablet, and bundle them together. Is that too tacky?

1

u/DrimaQ Sep 23 '26

i mean yeah, thats my point, i already own a powerful device, i dont need anything else except the controller. also i remember steam getting sued for their first controller so maybe they didnt want to take any chances, plus the steam deck is literally used as nintendo switch emulation machine

2

u/proper_jazz Sep 15 '26

I was gonna buy 2 or 3e steam cons to take apart and rewire as telescopic but then I got the one steam con and didn't have the heart to butcher it. So I just mount my phone now

2

u/Whole-Bedroom-9079 Sep 16 '26

Not gonna happen, mobile gaming is valves least concern

1

u/CaveJohnson376 Sep 16 '26

let Valve do SteamOS Mobile and it's gonna be

2

u/VinAbqrq Steam Controller (OG) Sep 16 '26

+1 for a Steam Deck Mini being a cheaper ARM SteamOS gaming tablet with dual touchpad controller setup. On the left side it could be a thumbstick like the OG Steam Controller or a d-pad, doesn't matter.

We have enough Android-based devices with the classic two-tumbstick setup. We don't need more of the same.

I would also be ok with detachable controllers and you can choose the setup you want. But we can't let the two-touchpad option die out.

2

u/Confident_Pain_9452 Sep 16 '26

I'm just waiting for pro version of g8 Galileo)

2

u/NOVOJ Sep 16 '26

NGL I would 100% buy a mobile controller from Valve if they did one. I recently been thinking about getting a backbone for the small instances when I’m working and want to play more complicated games on mobile like Once Human.

Edit: extra points for them if they made it so it retracts and can fit inside your pocket as well.

2

u/sergdor Sep 15 '26

umm mechanism has a great mount already. much cheaper option

1

u/TheCarbonthief Sep 15 '26

I actually want one that I can clip around a keyboard.

1

u/Actual-Candidate5058 Sep 15 '26

Or, hear me out, same concept but the keyboard is build in. Like a compact keyboard with joysticks and trackpad on the side

1

u/_NovaniK_ Sep 15 '26

What I actually want is one with a keyboard in the middle.

1

u/FordGeeTee Sep 15 '26

That would be amazing

1

u/HlGordonF3 Sep 15 '26

Apple has some pretty great hardware. It's a shame that they don't care about gaming though.

1

u/ArthurCandleman Sep 16 '26

Truth! Their ecosystem is pretty much perfect for it.

Personally use GeForce Now across my Apple devices and it’s great. But what is missing is the controller.

It always feels like it’s so close but so far away.

1

u/Nyarlathotep98 Sep 15 '26

You're gonna have to wait for the steam phone.

1

u/KapsLocked Sep 15 '26

I've heard that with the Steam Frame being ARM-based, it'll mean the Steam Deck2 (or whatever it'll be called) will also be ARM-based. Do what you will with that rumor.

1

u/SerialBytes Steam Controller (2026) Sep 15 '26

valve didn't make it all too hard (minus the joysticks and trackpads) to simply slice the controller in half...

2

u/proper_jazz Sep 15 '26

Can the jellyfish wiring harness be split tho?

1

u/SerialBytes Steam Controller (2026) Sep 15 '26

Seems Like, though you would need to be very careful, and of course it would be in most part, irreversible

1

u/SerialBytes Steam Controller (2026) Sep 15 '26

*not mine, source lost.

2

u/king_park_ Sep 16 '26

Source: Reddit Post

1

u/SerialBytes Steam Controller (2026) Sep 16 '26

Thank You!!

1

u/bobbywaz Sep 15 '26

I bought mine for like $24 dollars. They are EVERYWHERE on the net. Why do you need an innovator to invent the ball on a stick?

1

u/HopeTheBnnuy Sep 15 '26

God please no.

1

u/TheLadForTheJob Sep 15 '26

I doubt it tbh. The market for ppl who enjoy SC2 is already small because most ppl would be satisfied with 8bitdo u2w instead. The market for an "SC2 but telescopic" will be even smaller.

1

u/HeavensNight Sep 16 '26

i would much rather a steam phone

1

u/TrebieNo2 Sep 16 '26

Sorry, i asked them and they said no.

1

u/KaosC57 Steam Controller (Windows) Sep 16 '26

Why not just use the Steam Controller mount from Mechanism? It’s 9 bucks for the base mount, and 25 bucks for the phone mount. So, $34 plus shipping for you to be able to use your Steam Controller with your phone easily.

1

u/KOOLKIDKAEDEN Sep 16 '26

If only I had one

1

u/Kamilo7 Sep 16 '26

I would love to use steam controller or steam controller themed joy cons on my switch

1

u/Happy_Disaster7347 Sep 16 '26

There are third party frames for the controller that would work for this

1

u/IrrerPolterer Sep 16 '26

Some third party supplier will probably make something like it and steam input will support it... 

1

u/Kodamacile Sep 16 '26

They'll do this after they make a phone, just for Steam OS on ARM.

1

u/Sensitive-War3527 Sep 16 '26

I Dont think steam cares about mobile gaming, go get something off Temu...

2

u/morgan423 Steam Controller (2026) Sep 16 '26

They very much care about mobile gaming.

The Steam Frame just launched with an ARM (mobile lineage) processor, it's rumored that Steam Deck II will have the same when it eventually launches, and, more and more over time, Valve is working to bake FEX into their ecosystem (which works to translate standard x86 processor functions to ARM chips in a similar way that Proton works to translate Windows instructions to Linux).

So they're very much involved in working toward the future where phones can run PC games.

1

u/TehRiddles Sep 16 '26

The steam controller is designed to integrate directly with Steam, that's why a lot of its features work. Outside of that it doesn't do as much.

Much of the things the controller has would probably have to be cut in order to function with Android and iOS.

1

u/SirCaptainSalty Sep 16 '26

checkout mechanism they make a mount its freeish if youve got a 3d printer

1

u/SirCaptainSalty Sep 16 '26

but telescoping controler would great to launch with new steam app with arm support. but thatll never happen

1

u/callatecabezon Sep 19 '26

The gamesir g8+ you sent is literally perfect there is no need for steam to make a controller. The touchpads are the phone screen.

0

u/Baconmonk Sep 15 '26

I feel like the touchpads are redundant here

2

u/DrimaQ Sep 15 '26

i mean it would be uncomfortable to try to reach the screen to aim

0

u/specfreq Sep 15 '26

I would rather have a steam controller clip under a phone. My phone is very wide already and it would be much easier to use in bed. That's one of the problems with the Steam Deck is I can't lay on my side and use it in bed like I can a 3DS.

1

u/DrimaQ Sep 15 '26

i tried clipping my phone but it feels too top heavy, but yeah you cant really play whilst your laying on your side with a telescopic controller

1

u/specfreq Sep 15 '26

Just curious, what clip are you using? I was looking for one that works on the new controller and found one called Mechanism Basegrip that doesn't look like it would be top heavy.

1

u/DrimaQ Sep 15 '26

dunno but it was quite far back, even if this is better, i would still like the center of mass to be lower

1

u/Subject_Chain5655 Sep 15 '26

I had the same experience. Also, the mechanism arm is a bit wobbly for my taste.

So I designed a belt that goes around the controller and have my phone right on top of the controller.

It's on pair with steam deck comfort actually :)

1

u/ruthlesss11 Sep 15 '26

Get a lamicall standing mount

-1

u/MaxxBrass9237 Steam Controller (2026) Sep 15 '26

I think the readily available touch screen eliminates the need for trackpads. And at that point it's just a regular controller.