Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Fedora 42 Work Station
Opted into Steam client beta?: [No]
Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes]
Steam Logs: [generate by running this command in a terminal tar -zcvf ~/Desktop/steam-logs.tar.gz ~/.steam/steam/logs]
GPU: Nvidia/
Currently, on "vanilla" GNOME (which does not support legacy system tray icons by default), Steam becomes "invisible" once the main window is closed. Because Steam still relies on legacy StatusNotifierItem/AppIndicator protocols, it does not appear in the native GNOME "Background Apps" indicator.
This creates several usability issues for Linux users:
No visual confirmation: Users cannot see if Steam is still running without opening a terminal or system monitor.
Difficult to quit: There is no way to gracefully exit the app once the window is closed other than killing the process.
Broken UX: It forces users to install 3rd-party GNOME extensions just to regain basic functionality that should be handled by modern desktop portals.
As of late 2025, GNOME has moved entirely toward the XDG Portal standard for background execution.
Implementing this would ensure Steam remains visible and manageable in the system menu, providing a much more "native" and stable experience on modern Linux distributions.
Thank you for your continued work on the Linux client.
Your system information
tar -zcvf ~/Desktop/steam-logs.tar.gz ~/.steam/steam/logs]Currently, on "vanilla" GNOME (which does not support legacy system tray icons by default), Steam becomes "invisible" once the main window is closed. Because Steam still relies on legacy StatusNotifierItem/AppIndicator protocols, it does not appear in the native GNOME "Background Apps" indicator.
This creates several usability issues for Linux users:
No visual confirmation: Users cannot see if Steam is still running without opening a terminal or system monitor.
Difficult to quit: There is no way to gracefully exit the app once the window is closed other than killing the process.
Broken UX: It forces users to install 3rd-party GNOME extensions just to regain basic functionality that should be handled by modern desktop portals.
As of late 2025, GNOME has moved entirely toward the XDG Portal standard for background execution.
Implementing this would ensure Steam remains visible and manageable in the system menu, providing a much more "native" and stable experience on modern Linux distributions.
Thank you for your continued work on the Linux client.