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A music player built for Steam Deck with full gamepad navigation

by kicumkicum·Apr 7, 2026·1 point·2 comments
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AI Analysis

●●SolidNiche GemSolve My Problem

Finally a music player that doesn't require mouse navigation on Steam Deck.

Strengths
  • •Gamepad-first navigation eliminates joystick mouse control tedium.
  • •Large fonts and TV-friendly UI designed for couch gaming setups.
  • •Author built two previous music players with relevant domain experience.
Weaknesses
  • •Steam Deck niche limits potential user base and maintenance incentive.
  • •Description truncated before revealing technical implementation details.
Category
Productivity
Target Audience

Steam Deck owners

Similar To

Audacious · Clementine · DeaDBeeF

Post Description

Hi everyone, my name is Oleg. I’ve been using the Steam Deck OLED for over a year and a half, and I love it. It’s not perfect, but as a portable gaming PC it’s revolutionary in hardware and software design.

I use it for gaming both portable and on my TV, sometimes connected to a NAS and even a GPU dock for heavier titles. It’s basically my main gaming machine now.

One thing has always bothered me: there’s no decent audio player for Steam Deck. Yes, there are dozens of Linux music players, but they either have terrible interfaces, are overloaded, or just don’t feel right with a gamepad. Moving a mouse with the joystick works, but it’s tedious on the couch, especially when the Deck is connected to a TV. Fonts are tiny, navigation is awkward.

So I decided to build my own player. I’ve been coding for personal projects for 12+ years, including two music players (for VK and Yandex Music), a movie streaming app, a terminal ChatGPT assistant, and other tools. My goal is to make a player that works great on Steam Deck, is simple to use with a gamepad, and has a clean UI/UX.

Some background: I’ve been developing for SmartTVs for 5+ years, building apps for IVI, Okko, DomRu, and others, so I’m familiar with non-mouse interfaces. I’m building this project with a friend under the name Cassette Underground.

What the player will have:

- Paid, distributed via Steam - Local playback initially, with plans for DLNA, internet radio, Spotify, and more - Playlist support, equalizer, and all common audio formats (MP3, FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AAC, Opus, AC3, Ogg Vorbis, DTS, TrueHD, etc.) - Fully controllable with a gamepad

Current progress:

- Almost all core features are implemented: file navigation, format support, flat interface with everything accessible - Equalizer and library views by folder, artist, and genre - Bug fixes, Steam developer dashboard setup, app page preparation

Early access will cost roughly 5-7 USD, with plans to expand features and polish the interface based on community feedback.

We’re excited to share this with the community and would love feedback on what works, what doesn’t, and which features to prioritize.

Thanks for reading, and rock and roll never dies!

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