protonscr

Steam hidden download of its client update, and fake sense of control over it

steamopen Steam client
ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#10068 · opened 2023-09-15 by Zorrototo · updated 2024-03-27 · 2 comments · github
ZZorrototo 2023-09-15 github

Your system information

  • Steam client version (build number or date): All versions since long time and to this day
  • Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Not relevant
  • Opted into Steam client beta?: Not relevant
  • Have you checked for system updates?: Not relevant
  • Steam Logs: Not relevant
  • GPU: Not relevant

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

Steam downloads its client update in the background and you have no control over it, it also misleads you into thinking you can have control, but you do not.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

  1. Wait for a Steam Client update to come
  2. Observe you can't do anything on the internet because all your low bandwidth is sucked by something you have no control over
  3. Look for the rogue process sucking all your bandwidth with nethogs tool for example
  4. Find out it is Steam that is downloading in the background
  5. Open Steam UI and see there is no download currently happening
  6. Now go to Steam -> Check for Steam Client Update
  7. It will tell you there is an update, and asks you if you want to Download, or Later
  8. Click Later, observe it is still downloading in the background
  9. Now do the same, Steam -> Check for Client Update
  10. Click Download, see that it is already at 50% or whatever value it really is

If you don't provide us with a setting for it, at least don't mislead us into thinking we have a choice about the client update. Forcing a download and sucking all the bandwidth of the user without his consent is not OK. I know devs work on overpowered machine, with overpowered internet connections and they don't mind such behaviors, but there is also the reality, users don't all have overpowered internet connections, and forcing them to not be able to do anything on the internet while you force your client updates is not OK.

Only solution is to close Steam to stop the download.

ZZorrototo 2023-12-23 github

Seems like in the last updates it does not download or continue to download without your consent when you click Later button after checking for update. Will monitor better and see/confirm the behavior.

ZZorrototo 2024-03-27 github

No the issue is definitely still there. It downloads in the background without ANY NOTICE, then you click the Check for update menu, it says there is an update you click LATER, but it continues the background download, you recheck again, same message, then you click DOWNLOAD, and then you see you already are at 30% download of the client update. Unbelievable how you can't get your client fixed since the new version, you constantly update it but simple things are never fixed and you keep adding more issues.

Nothing extracted yet.