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iDeck brings the Steam Big Picture experience to iOS

iDeck brings Valve's real Steam client in Big Picture to your iPhone and iPad, with compatible Windows PC games running locally through Madeira, Wine, FEX and Metal. Connect a controller, open your library, and give that backlog a new home in your pocket.

Inspired by DroidDeck's mobile Steam experience, built on Will Faust's Madeira. No gaming PC stream is required.

SteamOS experience, iOS underneath. iDeck runs Windows Steam through compatibility and instruction translation. It does not install Linux SteamOS, and it does not make every game an ARM-native iOS app.

_{On-device demo · 1.5× playback speed · Experimental build}

Grab the IPA and SHA256SUMS from Releases. v0.1.3-alpha.2 (Build 56) includes the six-step launcher and bilingual setup guide. The older v0.1.3-alpha.1 (Build 54) uses the previous launcher.

1. Download and verify. Compare the IPA's SHA-256 with SHA256SUMS.
2. Sign and sideload. Use your own Apple ID with a tool such as Sideloadly or AltStore Classic. Free development signing is an option; follow the tool's account limits and refresh instructions. Keep MadeiraJITHelper.appex, sign all nested code, and retain development debugging permission (get-task-allow). A signature alone does not enable JIT. These signers are options, not a verified support list.
3. Trust and open. Connect/trust the device and complete Apple's developer and trust prompts when requested. Back up saves before upgrading an existing install; deleting the app can delete its local Steam data and games.
4. Prepare Steam and JIT. Follow the checklist below. The IPA includes the local runtime but does not include Steam/CEF, games or a Steam account.
5. Test in stages. Check launcher readiness → enter genuine Steam and complete Steam Guard yourself → browse Library → try a compatible game → return to Steam → reopen iDeck to check saved login. Try touch, keyboard and your controller separately. Report the first failing stage, not just “it hangs”.

Target: iOS 26+, with JIT through Madeira's authorized pairing/debug workflow. Device evidence comes from iPhone 15 Pro Max (A17 Pro); iPad remains unvalidated. No jailbreak is required. See full IPA installation instructions for signing details and limitations, or source setup.

On Build 55 or newer containing the checklist, open the launcher and tap Check all prerequisites. Work down the vertical steps; each has a checkmark or a missing-condition action:

The checker observes prerequisites; it does not sign the app, enable JIT or start Steam for you. Checks rerun when you return or finish a JIT request. 6/6 ready unlocks manual Launch Steam Big Picture. It is not a guarantee that Steam login, rendering or a particular game will work. Build 54 has the earlier setup controls rather than this checklist.

Sign in inside Valve's real Steam UI and approve Steam Guard yourself. Steam owns saved login and license checks. Use the launcher's Sign in / Change Steam account entry for another account; iDeck opens Steam's own account flow. Automatic startup can be changed in iDeck settings; it still requires JIT for each new app process.

Steam setup is still a technical-tester task. The experiment uses an older 32-bit Windows Steam client; a supported clean acquisition/setup flow remains unfinished. Follow setup and client preparation notes, using legitimate owner channels. Do not copy another installation's authentication cache. A complete client must be in one supported directory (wine/drive_c/Steam32BundleLab or wine/drive_c/Steam32Lab); scattered files from different clients do not count.

• The real Big Picture. Steam's own interface, account system and library.
• Play locally. Compatible PC games execute on the device through Madeira's runtime; there is no required gaming PC in the other room.
• Bring your controller. Physical controller integration, direct touch and an on-screen virtual controller are implemented, with validation still in progress.
• Keep the little button handy. Move the floating iDeck button wherever it suits you. Open the keyboard, show controls, adjust their layout, open the Steam menu or request a graceful game exit.
• Keep your Steam session. Saved authentication stays in Steam's local prefix. iDeck does not enter your credentials or replace Steam's authentication.

Game support is limited. Expect only a limited selection of games to work with this experimental runtime—not your entire Steam library. A game may fail to start, render incorrectly, crash, or need device-specific settings.

For upstream game reports, check Madeira's official Discord and Madeira game compatibility reports on GitHub. Madeira's current official README does not publish a standalone supported-games table. These are upstream report sources, not an iDeck-supported-games list: results depend on the device, OS, runtime version and settings, and a game working in Madeira does not guarantee it works in iDeck's Steam Big Picture path.

Real Steam login, saved-login reuse, Big Picture and library browsing have been observed on the test iPhone. A PC game has started locally, with gameplay also reported by the tester. Text entry and the floating menu's Steam action have received positive device feedback.

There are still rough edges: startup and post-login transitions can hang. Windows enumerating a controller is not proof that every Steam/game input path works. Bluetooth, reliable game return, longer sessions and iPad testing remain open. Recent logs reached successful login and BrowserReady; those events alone do not prove an interactive home screen.

Compatibility is per game. Broad library support and anti-cheat compatibility are not promised. This is an experiment for people who enjoy opening the hood— including when the loading screen decides to become the main character.

See technical status, POC results and login/transition evidence.

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/kuscholar/iDeck.git
cd iDeck

Follow Getting started, Building and JIT setup. The public snapshot excludes compiled runtime payloads and requires separately prepared dependencies; this is not a one-command clean build yet.

The inherited Xcode project is app/Madeira.xcodeproj, scheme Madeira. The app displays iDeck with the cyan-and-blue iD icon. Select your own Apple development team and a unique identifier; the source defaults to com.kuscholar.ideck.steamui. Keep existing Madeira installs and their data separate.

The Git checkout excludes compiled runtime payloads, Steam/CEF, games, account caches, signing profiles and the proprietary Apple converter. The alpha IPA and its source/license/relink companion assets are distributed separately. Read the distribution requirements before sharing a built package.

Open an issue with your device, build, steps to reproduce and redacted diagnostics. Tell us what actually appeared on screen, not just whether compilation passed. Never attach passwords, tokens, Steam Guard details, pairing files or account identifiers.

Madeira is the foundation of iDeck. Will Faust and the Madeira contributors created the substantial runtime, graphics/device integration and build system used here. iDeck adds its launcher experience, Steam UI integration, input work, diagnostics and compatibility experiments; it does not claim authorship of that underlying stack.

Thanks to the Wine, FEX-Emu, DXMT, StikJIT/StikDebug, idevice and other upstream contributors, and to the historical CEF research in deezhizyu/madeira.

DroidDeck inspired the product direction and this README's straightforward structure. iDeck uses Madeira's iOS runtime, not DroidDeck's Android/ARM64 Proton implementation. No DroidDeck code or artwork was imported for this snapshot; the README text here is written for iDeck.

Full attribution: CREDITS.md, NOTICE, third-party notices and exact source/component provenance.

The iDeck-authored additions use GPL-3.0-or-later, with the existing Madeira Converter Exception for work whose rights holders grant it. Upstream files keep their own licenses, including LGPL, MIT, BSD and MPL. Original copyright and license notices are retained; see COPYING.

Source publication does not resolve every obligation for distributing a built IPA. Corresponding-source, relinking and proprietary-library requirements remain in docs/DISTRIBUTION.md.

Steam, SteamOS and Steam Deck are Valve trademarks. iPhone, iPad, iOS and Metal are Apple trademarks. iDeck is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve, Apple, Madeira or DroidDeck.