Steam Deck update focuses on better control over joysticks and tracking pads

The Steam Deck has a brand new system update, including joystick calibrations, network options, and more.

Valve announced the new Steam Deck software update via the Steam forums earlier today on March 31. Perhaps chiefly, the new update introduces the option to change the dead zones for both joysticks, adjust the haptic strength on both of the Steam Deck's tracking pads, and adjust settings for external controllers.

Additionally, the Steam Deck will also now remember passwords for known networks. Whenever you go to reconnect to a network that you were previously connected to, Valve's handheld console now won't ask you to re-enter the known password after this update, which is no doubt a helpful fix for players.

There'll also be less stuttering after this update, due to an issue when downloading images for your games library being remedied. There's also a fix for Google Chrome not installing properly in the non-games section of the Steam Deck, and there's now dual trackpad typing support for the onscreen keyboard.

In all, it's a pretty straightforward patch for the Steam Deck. Earlier this month, it was reported that FromSoftware's Elden Ring was struggling to run on the new hardware, as repeated stuttering thanks mainly to pre-compiled shaders led to a slew of downvotes on its Steam page. Just like the new update, Valve put out a fix for the issue shortly after, and now every Tarnished on the Steam Deck is roaming The Lands Between entirely stutter-free.

Check out our complete Steam Deck review to see if you need to get your hands on Valve's latest hardware.