PC5 Launcher 0.5.1

Bug fixes only. A review of the whole code base found and fixed these:

• Background apps keep running: Discord and the App Store, when brought to the front from their tile, and the watchers for sound and network stopped after about 30 seconds. After that, sound no longer switched to the TV by itself.
• Browser: GOG and Epic login codes are only accepted during your own login from the store; before, another web page could sign the console in to a different GOG account. A window that isn't shown yet no longer swallows Circle, and a broken home page or bookmarks file no longer stops the browser.
• Login files: The GOG, Epic and Ubisoft login files are always readable only by you, even after something went wrong.
• Settings › Storage: The console storage shows its size and free space again instead of "Not connected".
• Installer trash: It was titled "Trophies" and showed their texts; it's the trash again, with its time limit.
• File explorer: Copying, moving, renaming and restoring never replace or delete something that appeared at the same place in the meantime.
• Uninstall: If it can't be checked whether an app is running somewhere else, it isn't uninstalled.
• Stores: Cancelling while Steam is still reading no longer hangs at "Cancelling …"; a cancelled installer also stops right before it starts; the prefix of a cancelled game stays while Wine still runs in it. Art for new Steam games in long lists is no longer missing, and parallel requests no longer corrupt the cache.
• Power menu and quitting: After an error the menu kept saying an action was already running; quitting the Home no longer loses settings and play time when something fails before.
• Setup: An interrupted umu-launcher download resumes on the next try instead of being reported as damaged.
• TV control: The TV is also found on a second graphics card; pressing "Select" twice quickly on the first pairing can no longer break pairing; connections are closed cleanly.
• Discord: An unusual reply from Discord no longer stops "Playing" until the next restart.
• Confirmations: Four actions in Settings now always ask before doing anything.
• English interface: English-style quotation marks; menus with special characters in a name open again.
• Memory under the screensaver: Background images are released and a full-screen trailer stops.

Install

On 0.3.1 or newer: Settings › Updates › PC5 Launcher › Update, then "Restart PC5 Launcher".

Otherwise: download pc5-launcher-0.5.1.tar.gz, extract it and run in Desktop Mode, inside the extracted folder:

bash install.sh

Your settings stay. Details: packaging/README.en.md.

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Nur Fehlerbehebungen aus einer Durchsicht des ganzen Codes: Hintergrund-Apps bleiben an, Anmelde-Codes im Browser nur während der eigenen Anmeldung, Anmeldedateien nur für dich lesbar, Konsolenspeicher wieder richtig, Papierkorb des Installers wieder richtig benannt, Datei-Explorer, Stores, Ein/Aus, Fernseher, Discord, Rückfragen und englische Oberfläche. Aktualisieren: Einstellungen › Updates › PC5 Launcher, oder Paket entpacken und bash install.sh.

PC5 Launcher 0.5.0

Control your TV. If your TV runs Google TV or Android TV, PC5 Launcher controls it over your home network, no HDMI-CEC needed on the PC: volume, mute, switching inputs and turning it off, in the Control Center under "TV". Turn it on and pair under Settings › Screen and video › Control the TV (off by default): PC5 Launcher finds the TV on your network (or you enter its address), the TV shows a code and you type it with the controller. Optionally the TV turns off when the PC sleeps or shuts down (always, or only while it shows the PC) and turns on again, on the PC's input, when the PC wakes up. For waking from standby, the TV's "network standby" (or "Wake on LAN") setting has to be on.

New "Apps" tab. The Home now has three tabs: Games, Apps and Media. Whatever you install as a Flatpak (for example in Bazaar) shows up as a tile by itself, even while Bazaar is still open: games under Games, video and music apps under Media, everything else under Apps. Move tiles in every row, hide apps (Settings › Apps › Hidden apps brings them back) and uninstall Flatpak apps right from the tile; your app data stays. The App Store (Bazaar) quits when you close it, unless a download or update is still running.

Discord, if you want it. Under Settings › Apps › Discord (off by default): the official client from Flathub starts hidden with PC5 Launcher and keeps running during games for messages and voice chat. Its messages show up as notifications, and the Control Center has a "Discord" icon to mute your microphone or sound in Discord. With your own free Application ID, friends see what you're playing.

More:

• Lutris is no longer needed: your Lutris games are taken over once (play time, settings, favorites, saves, art) and then start without it
• Control Center: every running game and app gets a card
• Per game: turn DXVK off (WineD3D) for games that crash or look wrong with it
• Proton versions installed by PC5 Launcher are write-protected, so another Proton can't damage them
• Sound goes to the TV automatically on any TV, not just one model
• Optional: start Claude Code with PC5 Launcher (Settings › Apps)
• Backups now include the order of all three rows and hidden tiles
• Fixes: low-battery notice only once per charge, no "Controller connected" after a restart, the focus ring no longer keeps the Home redrawing, steadier game page and widget bar, faster trophy overview, dates and numbers in the English format

Install

Already on 0.3.1 or newer: Settings › Updates › PC5 Launcher › Update (before 0.4.0: Settings › System › Updates), then "Restart PC5 Launcher".

Otherwise: download pc5-launcher-0.5.0.tar.gz, extract it and run in Desktop Mode, inside the extracted folder:

bash install.sh

Your settings stay. Details: packaging/README.en.md.

This is a preview. It is developed and used on Bazzite.

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Fernseher steuern (Google TV / Android TV) über das Heimnetz: Lautstärke, Eingang, Aus/Ein, wahlweise mit dem Ruhemodus des PCs. Neuer Reiter „Apps“ mit Flatpak-Kacheln, App Store (Bazaar), Kacheln verschieben, ausblenden und deinstallieren. Discord auf Wunsch im Hintergrund mit Mitteilungen. Lutris wird nicht mehr gebraucht, DXVK je Spiel, schreibgeschütztes Proton, Ton auf jedem Fernseher, viele Korrekturen. Aktualisieren: Einstellungen › Updates › PC5 Launcher, oder Paket entpacken und bash install.sh.

PC5 Launcher 0.4.0

Media gallery. All your screenshots sorted by game, in full screen with L1/R1, delete to the trash, or "Use as background". Under Media and as the first tile of the game library.

Your own Home background. Settings › Home screen › Background: game art, your own picture, or a slideshow of your screenshots.

Game page. Under each game: short description, genre, developer, release date, Metacritic, Steam screenshots and the latest news. When you rest on a game, its full trailer plays quietly in the background (streamed; for games PC5 Launcher installed itself, it is kept in the game folder and goes with it on uninstall). Game music in the Home if you like (Settings › Games).

Steam achievements as trophies. Bronze, silver, gold and platinum by rarity, per game and as an overview, with a notification when you unlock one. Read from Steam's own files, no login needed.

More:

• Useful cards under each game: trophies, your screenshots, news, about the game
• Widget bar in the Home: storage, trophies, Steam wishlist deals, recently played
• Notification when a game on your Steam wishlist goes on sale
• Adjust the size and position of each game's logo with the controller
• Boot videos from steamdeckrepo.com instead of the built-in start animation, also before sleep
• Store: trailers for Steam games, "Description" next to "Buy", bigger image preview
• Settings: a new "Updates" area with everything on one page ("Update all", "Check for updates now"), and "What's new" with the changes of each version
• GOG installers that fail under Proton (for example Pizza Connection) are unpacked with innoextract (comes with Lutris); the start file is found even when GOG spells it differently

Install

Already on 0.3.1 or newer: Settings › System › Updates › PC5 Launcher › Update, then "Restart PC5 Launcher". From 0.4.0 on, updates live in their own area: Settings › Updates.

Otherwise: download pc5-launcher-0.4.0.tar.gz, extract it and run in Desktop Mode, inside the extracted folder:

bash install.sh

Your settings stay. Details: packaging/README.en.md.

This is a preview. It is developed and used on Bazzite.

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Mediengalerie für alle Bildschirmfotos, eigener Hintergrund im Home, Spielansicht mit Kurzbeschreibung, Infos, Neuigkeiten und dem ganzen Trailer im Hintergrund, Steam-Trophäen nach Seltenheit, Widget-Leiste, Angebote der Wunschliste, Startvideos von steamdeckrepo.com, Trailer im Store, eigener Bereich Einstellungen › Updates mit „Was ist neu“, GOG-Installer per innoextract. Aktualisieren: Einstellungen › System › Updates › PC5 Launcher, oder Paket entpacken und bash install.sh.

PC5 Launcher 0.3.3

OptiScaler menu with the controller. When a game runs with OptiScaler, Control Center › Performance has a new entry, "OptiScaler menu". It opens OptiScaler's in-game menu (normally only the Insert key does that), and while it is open the controller works the menu:

• D-pad: select, change values
• Cross: choose, edit a slider
• Circle: back
• L1 / R1: page up / down
• Left stick and R2: pointer and click
• Options: close the menu; the controller then goes back to the game

The first three times, PC5 Launcher shows this layout on screen. Best opened from the game's pause menu.

Controller stays connected. Some games talk to the DualSense directly and drop its Bluetooth connection when they resume after being paused (Control Center, Home). If that happens twice shortly after resuming, PC5 Launcher stops pausing that game and tells you. You can change it back in the game settings under "Pause in background".

Install

Already on 0.3.1 or newer: Settings › System › Updates › PC5 Launcher › Update, then "Restart PC5 Launcher".

Otherwise: download pc5-launcher-0.3.3.tar.gz, extract it and run in Desktop Mode, inside the extracted folder:

bash install.sh

Your settings stay. Details: packaging/README.en.md.

This is a preview. It is developed and used on Bazzite.

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OptiScaler-Menü mit dem Controller: Control Center › Leistung › „OptiScaler-Menü“ öffnet das Menü von OptiScaler im Spiel; der Controller bedient es (Steuerkreuz, Kreuz, Kreis, L1/R1), Options schließt es. Controller bleibt verbunden: Trennt ein Spiel den DualSense zweimal kurz nach dem Fortsetzen, hält der PC5 Launcher es nicht mehr an. Aktualisieren: Einstellungen › System › Updates › PC5 Launcher, oder Paket entpacken und bash install.sh.

PC5 Launcher 0.3.2

Force composition for streaming. Settings › Screen and video › Force composition. Turn it on if Sunshine (or a similar streaming program) only gets a black picture while sound and controls work. It's the same switch as "Force composition" in Steam Big Picture's developer settings. Reported on Reddit, thanks!

Update

• From 0.3.1: Settings › System › Updates › PC5 Launcher › Check for updates now, then Update.
• From 0.2.0 or 0.3.0: download pc5-launcher-0.3.2.tar.gz, extract it and run bash install.sh in Desktop Mode, inside the extracted folder. Your settings stay.

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Komposition erzwingen (Einstellungen › Bildschirm und Video): hilft, wenn Sunshine nur ein schwarzes Bild streamt. Aktualisieren ab 0.3.1 unter Einstellungen › System › Updates, sonst Paket entpacken und bash install.sh.

PC5 Launcher 0.3.1

Themes. Settings › Home screen › Theme: Default, Ocean, Emerald, Purple, Ember or Graphite, or your own. A theme is a .css file with colors in ~/.config/couch/themes/; it can only change colors, nothing is loaded from the internet. Example and details: README › Themes. The idea came from the community on Reddit, thanks!

PC5 Launcher updates itself. It checks GitHub once a day, tells you when there's a new version and installs it with one button: Settings › System › Updates › PC5 Launcher. The new version starts after "Restart PC5 Launcher"; if it fails to start, the session goes back to the previous one. Coming from 0.2.0 or 0.3.0, update once by hand (below); from then on it's automatic.

Install with your own setup.exe. A setup.exe or .msi from Downloads, the file explorer or inside an archive now installs silently through Proton (Inno Setup, NSIS, MSI), into its own game folder and the same prefix the game later runs in. Progress and cancelling are under Downloads. Tested with mock installers only so far; please report anything that doesn't work.

Frame-rate limit: every value that divides your refresh rate evenly, from 20 fps (for example 24, 36, 48 and 72 at 144 Hz), instead of only 30, 40 and 60.

English everywhere: install.sh, uninstall.sh and couch-home --check now speak English on English systems, and a few settings that were still German are translated.

Install

Download pc5-launcher-0.3.1.tar.gz, extract it and run in Desktop Mode, inside the extracted folder:

bash install.sh

Updating from 0.2.0 or 0.3.0 works the same way, once; your settings stay. Details: packaging/README.en.md.

This is a preview. It is developed and used on Bazzite. Other systems with gamescope-session-plus should work but are unconfirmed; SteamOS is not supported yet.

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Aktualisiert sich selbst: Einstellungen › System › Updates › PC5 Launcher (Prüfung einmal am Tag, Installation mit einem Knopf). Designs: Einstellungen › Home-Bildschirm › Design (sechs Farbdesigns oder ein eigenes als .css-Datei in ~/.config/couch/themes/). Eigene Installationsprogramme: setup.exe oder .msi aus den Downloads, dem Datei-Explorer oder einem Archiv installiert still über Proton. Bildratenbegrenzung mit allen glatten Teilern ab 20. Englisch jetzt auch in install.sh und couch-home --check. Installieren und Aktualisieren: Paket entpacken, bash install.sh.

PC5 Launcher 0.3.0 – English interface

English interface. PC5 Launcher now speaks English: Settings › System › System language (Deutsch / English). New installs follow the system language. The on-screen keyboard switches to QWERTY with English word suggestions, dates and numbers follow the language, and the built-in browser and terminal are translated too.

Also new: more screenshots in the README (game covers blurred on purpose) and a PayPal donate button. Donations are voluntary and come with nothing in return.

Install

Download pc5-launcher-0.3.0.tar.gz, extract it and run in Desktop Mode, inside the extracted folder:

bash install.sh

Updating from 0.2.0 works the same way; your settings stay. Details: packaging/README.en.md.

This is a preview. It is developed and used on Bazzite. Other systems with gamescope-session-plus should work but are unconfirmed; SteamOS is not supported yet.

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Englische Oberfläche: Einstellungen › System › Systemsprache. Die Bildschirmtastatur ist dann QWERTY mit englischen Wortvorschlägen, auch Browser und Terminal sind übersetzt. Dazu mehr Bilder im README und ein PayPal-Spendenknopf. Installieren und Aktualisieren: Paket entpacken, bash install.sh.

PC5 Launcher 0.2.0 (Vorab-Fassung)

Erste öffentliche Vorab-Fassung des PC5 Launchers.

Installieren: pc5-launcher-0.2.0.tar.gz laden, entpacken und im Desktop-Modus im entpackten Ordner bash install.sh ausführen. Einzelheiten, Weg zurück zu Steam und Deinstallieren: packaging/README.md.

Systeme: Bazzite (Hauptsystem); ChimeraOS, Nobara und andere mit gamescope-session-plus sollten gehen (unbestätigt). SteamOS (Steam Deck, Steam Machine) noch nicht: dort fehlt WebKitGTK, der Installer sagt, was fehlt.

Prüfsumme (sha256): afa213d4f26c4195e6308ed6e79c7bbf4dfa812028d5a6ce1816b8b9635dd58a

Kostenlos und quelloffen (GPL-3.0). Wenn er dir gefällt, kannst du freiwillig etwas geben, per PayPal an pay.nino.pal@gmail.com – ohne Gegenleistung.

Der PC5 Launcher ist ein unabhängiges Projekt ohne Verbindung zu Sony Interactive Entertainment oder Valve.

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First public preview. Console-style home screen for the game mode of Linux PCs. The interface is in German. Install: extract and run bash install.sh in desktop mode. Free and open source (GPL-3.0).