Console Mode 1.6.0

What's new

• Redesigned Console interface, made to feel like a console: a top bar with three tabs (Home, Session and System) you switch with LB/RB (L1/R1 on PlayStation), screen tiles that show what will happen to each monitor, quick settings with icons and a focus that grows as you move over it. Home brings the Play now banner and a summary of the current setup (game screen, audio, launcher and HDR/VRR). (#117)
• Session menu redesigned like Steam's overlay (Shift + Tab): it covers the whole screen, the game dims and blurs behind it, a side panel gathers the options (volume with a gauge, resolution, audio, FPS, HDR) and the open windows sit in the middle, an in-menu Alt + Tab: the D-pad picks, A brings the window to the front, X closes it (after a confirmation) and B goes back to the game. The cards show each program's icon. Outside a session it opens as a preview. (#120, #127, #133, #135)
• File explorer in the session menu: the "File explorer (ControlFS)" row opens ControlFS, the team's open-source, controller-first file manager, full screen on the session screen. If it isn't installed, A downloads and installs it right there, with the installer checked (SHA-256) before it runs. (#122, #136, #137)
• FPS counter over the game, through RivaTuner (RTSS): pick it in Settings or cycle it with A on the "FPS counter" row of the session menu. Styles: Afterburner (default; changes nothing), Off, Compact (FPS only), Detailed (API, FPS and frame time) and Custom, where you pick the items, whether they share one line and the number color. Except on "Afterburner", MSI Afterburner's OSD is hidden during the session and comes back by itself when you go back to the PC. (#138, #139)
• Controller shortcuts of your choice: the button that opens Console Mode, the session menu's and the one that goes back to the PC are set in Settings (hold the buttons you want and let go). None is on by default: the first time you open the app it shows the setup, with a suggestion for each action (Home, Select + Y and Start + Select). One button can't serve two actions. (#116)
• Settings → TV: console mode turns a Google TV / Android TV on over the network and switches to the PC's HDMI input; it can also put the TV in standby when you go back to the PC. (#126)
• Console interface background: by default, a collage of the covers of your installed Steam games under a dark gradient (the app only reads images Steam already downloaded). You can switch to just the gradient or to a picture of your own, in System → Background. (#117)
• Sounds in the Console interface when you move the focus, pick and go back, made by the app itself. Turn them off in Settings → Interface sounds. (#117)
• Console interface: the System tab reaches the desktop settings (Playnite, TV, FPS counter, Steam, the tutorial and the data folder), with grouped controller options, a button layout choice (Automatic, Xbox or PlayStation) with a preview, and a shortcut editor with cards and larger buttons. (#128, #131)

Changes

• Displays and audio are now controlled through Windows' own APIs. The app no longer bundles NirSoft's MultiMonitorTool or SoundVolumeView: the package holds only the project's code and rtss-cli (MIT), which paves the way for a signed executable and fewer antivirus false positives. Saved screens, the chosen audio output and the desk backup keep working. (#91, #97, #98, #99, #110, #119)
• Steam: when you go back to the PC, Big Picture is closed and Steam's window goes to the tray, with the client still running. The request only goes to Steam's own windows, so games and other windows are left alone, and nothing happens while a game is running. Turn it off in Settings → "Send Steam to the tray when going back to the PC". (#121, #131, #140)
• Publishing a stable release also opens the update PR on winget (winget install lippdev.ConsoleMode). (#106)

Fixes

• Displays: going back to the PC restores the exact layout from before (the second monitor no longer slides aside) and keeps the TV off. The result is checked against the backup and redone if needed. (#134)
• Displays: a monitor turned to portrait comes back in portrait when the desk is restored; before, the rotation was not saved. (#108)
• Displays: the primary screen comes from Windows' own flag, so cloned screens are no longer ambiguous. (#110)
• Playnite: a slow start no longer sends you back to the PC after a few seconds; the desk is only restored once Playnite actually closes. (#83)
• Audio: if switching the output fails, the session goes on instead of being rolled back after the screens were already switched. (#109)
• Controllers: a DualSense (PS5) over Bluetooth and a DualShock are read directly over HID by the shortcuts, the Console interface and the session menu. (#130, #132)
• Controllers: a controller that sends impossible readings (many buttons down at once, a stuck D-pad) is ignored. (#115)
• Console interface: controller navigation no longer gets stuck; up and down work across columns and, when you switch tabs, the focus lands on the first item of the new one. (#117)
• Session menu: the notice that shows the shortcut when a session starts no longer gets stuck on screen. (#114)

Updating from 1.5.1

• The app shows the notice: click Update now. Your settings, saved screens and audio output are kept.
• Controller shortcuts have to be chosen again: if you used the Home button or Start + Select, confirm (or change) them in the setup the app shows the first time it opens.
• The old MultiMonitorTool and SoundVolumeView files stay in the tools folder until you delete them by hand; the app no longer uses them.

Downloads

• Installer: ConsoleMode-Setup-x64.exe — installs the app and offers shortcuts and starting with Windows.
• Portable: ConsoleMode-Portable-x64.exe — a single executable; keeps its data in the ConsoleMode_Data folder next to the file.

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🇧🇷 Notas em português: CHANGELOG.md