Just call it what it is: installing apps. It's not "sideloading". Installing apps on a device you own is normal, being locked out of installing apps on a device you own is abnormal.
this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2026
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Steam Hardware
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This app is specifically installing software using devkit tools, and registering games to Steam as a devkit game rather than an external application.
There's also been some question on how easy it will be for users to add Android APKs. It may be as simple as picking the Lepton compatibility layer, or it may be only available to devs atm. Either way this is the first thing I've seen that's saying users can definitely install their own android apps.
No one even has one yet. We already talking about sideloading apps?
Also seems like vibecoded slop....
Developers have obviously had the Steam Frame for a while. Of course they want ways to make it easier to install things, and consumers will also want that soon enough.
Plenty of people have had them for months; just not the general public.
If you're not side-stepping protections meant to prevent installing the software, it's just regular loading, not sideloading.
Per Wikipedia:
Sideloading is the process of transferring files between two local devices, in particular between a personal computer and a mobile device such as a mobile phone, smartphone, PDA, tablet, portable media player or e-reader.
And then a little bit later down:
The use of the term "sideloading" to describe downloading and installing an app outside of sanctioned means is controversial and not universally accepted.[1]
A rare time Wikipedia is wrong, I never thought I'd see the day
Do you even need an app to sideload stuff in steamOS? Googling how people do it for the steamdeck it seems like they don't for the most part. Maybe I'm drastically misunderstanding how the frame woks.
Similar software exists for the Deck. It's not a requirement for installing linux applications but it does make it easier to add links to the steam big picture interface and manage the cover art. The Frame also has the added complexity of supporting android APKs.
This is mostly meant to make it easier to install software from a separate PC vs having to install it from the Frame itself. That said, it is installing the software into steam as a steam dev build, which goes beyond the usual "add a non-steam application". I'm also not sure if users can add Android APKs to steam yet (to be run with Steam's Lepton), but this will allow that.
Woah woah woah, we don’t do that here.
What side loading?
Yes, we just call that installing, because that what you do with your hardware, install software on it. You don’t need to side anything with your hardware.
Doesn't seem to be open source
But it's not locked down?...
Is it really sideloading if its a normal functionality of the system? Valve themselves say and advertise that the Steam Frame is a PC.