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[IbizaPocholo]

Thanks to Lepton, Valve will get to integrate the Android ecosystem into Steam - IG News

Does the name Proton ring a bell? It's the tool that allows Windows games to run on Linux. Thanks to this, the best titles of recent years work perfectly…

news.instant-gaming.com

Does the name Proton ring a bell? It's the tool that allows Windows games to run on Linux. Thanks to this, the best titles of recent years work perfectly on devices such as the Steam Deck.

Thanks to SteamDB, we have discovered the existence of Lepton, a tool based on Waydroid technology that will be used to run Android applications within Valve's ecosystem. For now, a logo with a frog and lines of code have been spotted. The latest update mentioned by SteamDB dates back to Tuesday, December 2, 2025.

 

[Soodanim]

Linux already seems to be the best place to play Linux games from what I understand, but I don't know how good or bad Waydroid currently is. Google are working on their own Windows support (released now?), for better or worse. I wonder what Valve's improvements will bring.

I've been meaning to try Waydroid out since I moved to Linux. I might as well wait and see what happens.

Either way, the whole idea is much further along now than the Bluestacks rubbish I couldn't get working a few years ago.

 

[Drew1440]

I wonder if this is intended to run Android TV apps on the Steam box (like Netflix, Disney+)

 

[pudel]

Nice. I am thinking of smartphones running linux. GrapheneOS is already a thing.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

I wonder if this is intended to run Android TV apps on the Steam box (like Netflix, Disney+)

Or all of the ecosystem on your Frame.

 

[Hudo]

Cool.

But what about Half-Life 3?

 

[MidGenRefresh]

Frame is an ARM based system, so this is logical.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Thanks to Lepton, Valve will get to integrate the Android ecosystem into Steam - IG News

Does the name Proton ring a bell? It's the tool that allows Windows games to run on Linux. Thanks to this, the best titles of recent years work perfectly…

news.instant-gaming.com

 

[Ar¢tos]

This will be great for me. I prefer to read books on Readera but it's android/ios only, so I've been using Calibre book reader on Linux (it's a great book reader, but I prefer Readera).

 

[Hugare]

With Frame, Valve has the opportunity to launch Steam on Android.

Imagine every cellphone becoming a Steam Deck (less or more powerful depending on the device). It's easy money for them.

Some cheap Snapdragon SOC can play X360/PS3 era games perfectly already with Gamehub/Winlator, imagine with Valve's touch.

 

[pudel]

With Frame, Valve has the opportunity to launch Steam on Android.

Thats even a different thing. They call that "fex".

On gamingonlinux.com someone in the comments came up with this summary:

• Proton - x86 Windows apps on x86 Linux (Steam Deck).
• Proton+FEX - x86 Windows apps on ARM64 Linux (Steam Frame).
• Lepton - ARM64 Android apps on ARM64 Linux (Steam Frame) or x86 Android (Intel Atom, Chromebook) apps on x86 Linux (Steam Deck).

 

[Darkkahn]

Oh man, can you imagine running those hot android apps on your pc!

 

[ljubomir]

With Valve's involvement in FEX and Proton, I fully expect to see Steam on Android allowing PC game compatibility within the next year or two, which will be huge. As for Lepton, sounds like a good idea for Netflix on Steam Deck.

 

[Bojanglez]

Oh man, can you imagine running those hot android apps on your pc!

Fortnite would finally work on Linux (although knowing Epic they would detect and stop it)

I expect the main use case is running APKs designed for Meta Quest, allowing people to port those games easily to natively run on Steam Frame.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Oh man, can you imagine running those hot android apps on your pc!

Like BlueStacks??

 

[RCX]

I'll get my coat.

 

[Punished Miku]

Same thing Windows is doing. Seems cool to me. I'd rather not buy a portable PC handheld anyway. I barely use portable, but if I could just run games on my phone the few times I wanted to, that's clearly way better.

 

[RCX]

With Valve's involvement in FEX and Proton, I fully expect to see Steam on Android allowing PC game compatibility within the next year or two, which will be huge. As for Lepton, sounds like a good idea for Netflix on Steam Deck.

We're a good way down that road already.

Currently playing thru F.E.A.R on Gamehub Lite on my Odin 2. Downloaded from Steam within the app. I've done this with quite a few lighter/older games recently. Even has working cloud saves.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I got a fancy new Razer Kishi V3 that works really well with my iPhone.
It's got TMR sticks. The first time I've ever used TMR. Works as advertised.
If only I could boot some Steam games on this.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

This should generally be easier to implement than WINE, considering Android is based on the Linux kernel so it's effectively a fork of Linux itself. Will be interesting to see how developments shape out.

 

[ljubomir]

We're a good way down that road already.

Currently playing thru F.E.A.R on Gamehub Lite on my Odin 2. Downloaded from Steam within the app. I've done this with quite a few lighter/older games recently. Even has working cloud saves.

I've tried both winlator and gamenative on a couple of Samsung Galaxy devices over the years, and while they technically work, I'd prefer an out of the box, officially supported (by Valve) solution, with some QoL improvements. No manual settings of "containers", no sketchy logins to 3rd party apps. Not that I think gamenative is risky per se, just waiting out for official version, cause its gonna be awsome . I'm also 90% sure the next Steam deck, or it's spiritual successor, is going to be ARM-based, like Frame.

 

[Sophist]

Oh man, can you imagine running those hot android apps on your pc!

If I am not mistaken, the best version of dragon quest 4 or 5 is on Android; it's more complete than the DS English release which had quite some stuff removed from the Japanese version.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

I'd seriously appreciate being able to run native Android apps on my x86 PC. Not everything on there is shit, would open up tons of new possibilities.

 

[JCK75]

I'd seriously appreciate being able to run native Android apps on my x86 PC. Not everything on there is shit, would open up tons of new possibilities.

I have to manage 100 chromecasts and what I would not give for Google Home on my desktop.

 

[negator2vc]

This will be great for me. I prefer to read books on Readera but it's android/ios only, so I've been using Calibre book reader on Linux (it's a great book reader, but I prefer Readera).

Buy an actual ebook reader. Much better reading experience. And no distractions while reading.

 

[Sonik]

Oh man, can you imagine running those hot android apps on your pc!

I can imagine installing Linux on my phone and using the few Android apps I need with Lepton. Recently these shady Google fucks tried to make "sideloading", aka installing apps on your own, useless by only allowing approved app makers to install in Android so yeah, my hope is that my next phone will be a Linux one

 

[negator2vc]

Would be fun to be able to play old android games on our pc when google pull the plug on sideloading and we can no longer install them on your phones.
Yes, I know for now google have paused the whole blocking sideloading crap but we all know that at some point in the future they will reintroduce it.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Buy an actual ebook reader. Much better reading experience. And no distractions while reading.

Book readers are small. I use my potato mini pc connected to a 43" TV and increase font size to Large so I can read at night without getting my eyes tired (I'm old).
What distractions? I basically only use the pc to read books.

 

[StereoVsn]

Book readers are small. I use my potato mini pc connected to a 43" TV and increase font size to Large so I can read at night without getting my eyes tired (I'm old).
What distractions? I basically only use the pc to read books.

Wait, you legit read book as from your TV and eyes don't get crazy tired/watery???

 

[negator2vc]

Book readers are small. I use my potato mini pc connected to a 43" TV and increase font size to Large so I can read at night without getting my eyes tired (I'm old).
What distractions? I basically only use the pc to read books.

Ebook reader come in many sizes (for ex. I have 2 - one 6 inches for books and one 10 inches for comics/manga or any other case where I need larger screen). And you can increase the font of the text if you need it.
Even better since their "screens" aren't normal screens they don't tire your eyes.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Wait, you legit read book as from your TV and eyes don't get crazy tired/watery???

No. When I was using the tablet they did. But with the tv color temp to warm and the font set to large I get 5 lines of text on the screen that change every few seconds (I'm a fast reader) so it doesn't annoy my eyes.
Looking down at a tablet was harder, I prefer looking at something that has a fixed position.

 

[BlueManifest]

Going to be nice to be able to download streaming apps easily to Steam now, esp for watching movies on the frame

 

[RCX]

I've tried both winlator and gamenative on a couple of Samsung Galaxy devices over the years, and while they technically work, I'd prefer an out of the box, officially supported (by Valve) solution, with some QoL improvements. No manual settings of "containers", no sketchy logins to 3rd party apps. Not that I think gamenative is risky per se, just waiting out for official version, cause its gonna be awsome . I'm also 90% sure the next Steam deck, or it's spiritual successor, is going to be ARM-based, like Frame.

Me too, I'm sure its on the way and having seen what ARM chips are now capable of I think its a good prediction that SD2 may not be x86 after all.

In the meantime try this: https://github.com/Producdevity/gamehub-lite

Gamehub with the sketchy login and tracking shit removed. It's the most performant of the winlator-type apps out there.

 

[RCX]

I've tried both winlator and gamenative on a couple of Samsung Galaxy devices over the years, and while they technically work, I'd prefer an out of the box, officially supported (by Valve) solution, with some QoL improvements..

If they name it anything other than SteARM i will be sorely disappointed.

 

[Crayon]

I haven't tried waydroid yet but I probably should. Especially useful on linux. I have a tablet that would probably be cool for a few android apps.

Also, I got to admit. It took me a bit to get with the times of contanorized applications on linux but I'm really warming up to it. On bazzite, it's weird to install a classic system package and they reccomend about anything else. I was already starting to really appreciate flatpaks and app images, but this immutable thing pushed me towards distrobox and now that I've tried it, it's kinda awesome.