I agree that Steam notifications can be sometimes annoying and do break the desktop experience. However, I don't think that making them match the desktop default notification position is the right way to go here.
I would rather add an option to toggle between Steam notifications and native notification (most likely implemented via xdg-desktop-portals - the same way the new file picker is implemented).
This would allow for Steam to support a wide range of desktops and notification daemons.
add an option to toggle between Steam notifications and native notification (most likely implemented via xdg-desktop-portals - the same way the new file picker is implemented).
This would allow for Steam to support a wide range of desktops and notification daemons.
I agree, @CrumblyLiquid, although, consequently, I don't quite understand what you mean by the undermentioned:
I don't think that making them match the desktop default notification position is the right way to go here.
@cm-t, I think you should rename the title to "Use native notifications", because this issue was rather difficult to find.
This is not a bug, rather a feature request indeed, but I still agree to notifications thing.
Starting from 2024, Steam has dropped windows 7 support. Old windows versions didn't have notification system, that's why Steam made its own. Now Steam supports only windows 10+, macos, and linux. All of these system have their notification implementations, and Steam should use them instead of hacky old notification approach. This approach could fulfil other feature requests, like opt-in disabling achievement notifications (because you could just supress all of them in the system settings), notifications history (system implementation already has its history), and anything else that can be offloaded to the OS.
Gabe is too busy enjoying his jewel-encrusted yachts to care about a silly thing like user convenience.
So what about this issue/Feature request? Any updates?
Valve doesn't display a whole lot of concern for the 'Linux user experience', they only appear to invest development in piling on more and more crowd-pleasing bells and whistles to their already bloated client.
There are thousands of open issues and very few of them seem to receive any kind of attention.
The client needs a fundamental rewrite, so it doesn't rely on 32-bit libraries anymore. Their excuse is that this is a requirement to support older 32-bit games, but this is hogwash.
Another big problem is that the client is completely reliant on XWayland, which was meant to be a stopgap to help ease the transition; X is fully considered to be deprecated now (and hey, good riddance if you ask me).
Again, Valve doesn't care.
All modern operating systems have perfectly capable notification systems, but instead Valve imposes theirs, so that it's nice and consistent for them, I guess.
Better yet, instead of a fundamental rewrite, Valve should provide us with a completely UI-less, dependency-free command line client, containing nothing but the core essentials to allow us to download, update and launch games - and have their (entirely optional) GUI sit on top of that.
This would allow them to close tons of open issues overnight.
The frustrating thing is that they already have such a tool - steamcmd. Unfortunately, it lacks the crucial ability to launch games - by design.
They could literally fix this in a single day. Two, testing included. So, why don't they?
If I buy a car, I expect to be handed over the keys after payment, so that I can operate the vehicle on my own terms.
So why do we settle for accomodating the vendor installing an entire garage in our home as the terms for using our purchased goods?
As you may know, the European Commission recently agreed on the Stop Killing Games act. Good start, but I'd say they need to go further and force the likes of Valve to remove the need to impose their fullblown platforms onto our systems.
Just to keep the topic, I'm wish there is a native notification option AND/OR the choice where the steam-made notification appears, for example top corner/right, for default (desktop) steam mode. Im not talking about big picture/steamdeck.
Whatever the solution implemented, i just do not want notification in the bottom right corner, so for the while i just disabled all desktop notifications from steam.
I don't think that making them match the desktop default notification position is the right way to go here.
I think the issue is that there isn't really any standard for "notification position" spec that steam can hook into, for the most part applications send their notifications to org.Freedesktop.Notifications and the compositor displays it however it pleases.
I think the issue is that there isn't really any standard for "notification position" spec that steam can hook into, for the most part applications send their notifications to org.Freedesktop.Notifications and the compositor displays it however it pleases.
It is there – https://specifications.freedesktop.org/notification/latest-single/#hints, but it is only a hint. DEs are not bound to show the notification as specified, and I think it's better that way in some cases – GNOME doesn't have any tray icons, so placing the notification relative to some position is entirely arbitrary and jarring
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I have checked for this issue in github, but it is always described as a feature request, I want to make sure this is truly a bug, creating for users.a very nasty user experience with the steam product.
Notifications position are breaking the whole user experience in the system it is used. The feature of notification appears in a area the user click for something else.
Notifications should be able to match the desktop default notification position, or if not, it should be user adjustable.
Steps for reproducing this issue:
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As a daily user of Ubuntu + Steam for more than 10 years, I strongly assure that this notification is really annoying.
It really affect the user experience, of their system, maybe of their game, but it surely affect the feeling of the user about steam, and its publisher, Valve.
I hope you got the bottle in the sea o/
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