While Valve’s awesome $399 Steam Deck is a capable enough gaming system out of the box, some of its best features are easy to miss.

If you know where to look, you can customize the Steam Deck to your liking, minimize annoyances, and even expand your game catalog well beyond the built-in Steam storefront.

Here, then, is a lengthy list of tips and tricks for the Steam Deck, loosely arranged from simple to more advanced:

Know your quick commands

Jared Newman / Foundry

Long-press the Steam button, and you’ll see a list of quick commands you can invoke from anywhere. A full list appears in the above screenshot, but here are a few that you should try committing to memory:

• Adjust brightness: Steam + Left Stick Up/Down
• Force game shutdown: Steam + Long-press B
• Take a screenshot: Steam + R1
• On-screen keyboard: Steam + X.
• Temporary cursor: Steam + Right Stick or Trackpad. Use R2 to click.

Get game suggestions

Jared Newman / Foundry

Not sure what to play on your Steam Deck? A couple suggestions:

• From the home screen, scroll down, then over to the “Recommended” tab. Steam will helpfully suggest untouched games from your backlog.
• Hit the Steam button and select “Library.” The first tab (“Great on Deck”) suggests games that are fully-optimized for the portable.
• Try playing some of the smaller-scale, indie games you’ve been neglecting. Chances are they’ll be easier to pick up and put down than, say, Elden Ring, and they may burn through less battery life as well.

Check your battery life

Jared Newman / Foundry

Tap the battery icon at the top of the screen to quickly bring up the Performance tab. You’ll see a measure of projected battery life at the top.

Suspend and resume

With the Steam Deck, there’s no need to quit your game between play sessions. Just press the power button, and the Deck will enter sleep mode. Press it again to quickly pick up where you left off, even a day or two later.

(It’s still a good idea to save your game between sessions if possible, and of course putting the Steam Deck to sleep during multiplayer will probably get you booted.)

Don’t miss Night mode

Jared Newman / Foundry

If you’re gaming on the Steam Deck before bed, consider turning on Night mode to cut down on blue light from the screen:

• In Quick Settings: Head to the ⚙ settings section and toggle Night mode under the “Other” heading.
• In Settings: Look under the Display tab to schedule Night mode and adjust the tint level.

Minimize distractions

Jared Newman / Foundry

Getting notified about friend activity during a game is annoying enough on the desktop, but it’s even worse on the Steam Deck, where screen real estate is limited. Turn off these alerts under Settings > Notifications.

Browse in-game guides

Jared Newman / Foundry

Need help with the game you’re playing? Instead of reaching for your phone, hit the Steam button, then select “Guides” to bring up Steam’s player-contributed tutorials. Use the arrow buttons at the top to scroll through each page. (Hey Valve, a search function would be nice.)

Tweak your performance profiles

Jared Newman / Foundry

The Steam Deck’s Performance menu has lots of tweakable knobs to fine-tune performance, visual fidelity, and battery life, separate from in-game settings. Access this menu by hitting the … button, then selecting the 🔋battery icon.

A few options to consider:

• Enable “Use per-game profile” before making any changes here. That way you can adjust settings on a game-by-game basis instead of across the board.
• To maximize the Steam Deck’s battery life without major visual compromises, drop the Refresh Rate slider down to 40 Hz, which will also cap the framerate at 40 frames per second.
• If you prefer smoother framerates over higher resolution, set the Scaling Filter to “FSR” and set FSR Sharpness to 4 or 5. Then, use in-game settings to choose a resolution lower than 1280×800, such as 1152×720 or 960×600. The FSR upscaling will restore some of the sharpness without affecting framerates.

Choose a default storage location

Jared Newman / Foundry

If you’re expanding Steam Deck storage with a MicroSD card, set your default storage location under. Settings > Storage. Highlight either the internal drive or the MicroSD card, then press X.

You can also easily move games between storage devices from this same menu. Just highlight the game, then press Y.

Learn to touchpad type

Jared Newman / Foundry

While using the Steam Deck’s on-screen keyboard, put your thumbs on each trackpad and slide them around. You’ll see a circular cursor for each thumb over the left- and right-hand sides of the keyboard, and you can either click the trackpads or use the triggers to type. There’s a learning curve, but eventually it feels more convenient and accurate than using the touchscreen.

Change your keyboard

Jared Newman / Foundry

Head to Settings > Keyboard to choose between alternate styles for the on-screen keyboard. You can also visit the Points Shop to acquire additional styles at 5,000 points apiece.

Check Steam Deck compatibility

While Steam has an official “Deck Verified” program that checks for game compatibility, don’t neglect ProtonDB either. This community-built site can provide additional insights for games that don’t have an official stamp of approval, along with tweaks that might get them into a playable state.

Use the button remapper

Jared Newman / Foundry

If you have a lot of old PC games that weren’t made with controllers in mind, the Steam Deck’s button remapper is a killer feature. To use it, press the Steam button while playing a game, select “Controller Settings,” then hit the “A” button.

The possibilities are too extensive to cover in a short blurb—seriously, you can even create your own radial weapon wheels—so we’ve created a separate guide using the remapper to its full potential.

Stream from your PC

Jared Newman / Foundry

Don’t scoff at the Steam Deck’s Remote Play feature, which lets you stream games from your desktop computer. It can come in handy for several reasons:

• You’ve got limited time or scarce storage space to obtain more games.
• You want to conserve battery life while maximizing visual fidelity.
• You want to play a game that doesn’t natively support the Steam Deck yet.

To stream from your PC, hit down arrow next to the “Install” or “Play” button for any game, then select your computer from the list. Hit the “Stream” button to launch a remote play session.

Add a lock screen

Jared Newman / Foundry

To enable a PIN on the Steam Deck, head to Settings > Security. You can add lock screen when waking up the console, or just when switching to desktop mode. The latter’s especially important if you’re logged into email or other sensitive accounts while using the Steam Deck desktop.

Enter Desktop mode

Jared Newman / Foundry

The Steam Deck’s true potential comes from entering Desktop mode, which provides a full Linux-based environment for installing more software—even from competing digital storefronts.

To enter the Steam Deck’s Desktop mode, hit the Steam button, scroll down to Power, and select ”Switch to Desktop.” Then, navigate with these controls:

• Right trackpad for cursor control.
• R2 and L2 for left and right click, respectively, or click the right trackpad for a left click.
• Steam + X for the on-screen keyboard.

Note that if you shut down the Steam desktop app, the touchpad click and on-screen keyboard will stop working.

Install more software

The easiest way to install non-Steam software on your Steam Deck is through the Desktop mode’s Discover store. Click the icon that looks like a shopping bag, and you’ll see a wide range of programs to install, from Spotify and Discord to DOSBox and GZDoom.

Once installed, you’ll find these programs in the application launcher by clicking the Steam Deck logo at the bottom-left.

Add non-Steam apps to Gaming mode

Jared Newman / Foundry

You don’t need to be in Desktop mode to launch desktop apps. Instead, you can add them to Game mode for easy access.

To do so, launch the Steam app while in Desktop mode. Then, hit the “Games” tab in the top menu and select Add a non-Steam Game to My Library. If the app or game doesn’t appear in the list that pops up, use the “Browse…” button to find it, then hit “Add Selected Programs.”

When you return to Game mode, you’ll find these games in the “Non-Steam” section of your library.

Install alternative game sources

Jared Newman / Foundry

After getting comfortable with Desktop mode, the next step is to bring in games from storefronts other than Steam. Some options to consider:

• Heroic Games Launcher provides access to your Epic Games Store and GOG libraries and is available through the Discover store. A separate utility called HeroicBashLauncher can automatically add these games to your Steam library, complete with artwork.
• Lutris provides access to the above stores and more, and is also available through the Discover store.
• Emudeck makes it easy to play classic game emulators through the Steam Deck’s Game mode, assuming you have the necessary game files.
• Check out this Reddit thread for the best way to play Itch.io games on the Steam Deck.

Transfer files with ease

Need to move some files to your Steam Deck from another computer? Instead of swapping thumb drives back and forth, check out Payload. Install this free app on both your computer and the Steam Deck (in desktop mode), and you can transfer files over your Wi-Fi network just by dragging and dropping.

Consider a USB hub

For serious Steam Deck desktop users, a cheap USB hub with HDMI output can be an invaluable addition. Plug it into the Deck’s USB-C port, and you can add an external mouse and keyboard while outputting video to a monitor or TV. (A proper Steam Deck dock may also be worth considering, official or otherwise.)

Deck out your Steam Deck

Jared Newman / Foundry

To take Steam Deck customization to the next level, install Decky Loader, which extends the Deck with a wide range of user-made plugins. Want to swap out the Deck’s menu sounds or add control your music through the sidebar menu? Decky Loader makes it easy to do so. It’s also the best way to add cover art for non-Steam games, using the SteamGridDB plugin.

To install Decky Loader, visit the project’s GitHub page from Desktop mode and click the obtain button at the top, then run the installer from your Downloads folder. After installation, return to Game mode, and you’ll see a new 🔌 plug icon in the … sidebar menu. Hit the store icon at the top of the menu to browse for plugins from there.

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Despite the economic downturn, a crowded market and high valuations, there’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity upon us. We don’t mean the buzzy concepts like the metaverse or NFTs or Web3. Instead, we’re talking about data infrastructure.

The term infrastructure doesn’t typically generate a lot of excitement. But it’s nevertheless one of the most interesting investment sectors, now thanks in part to the pandemic. 

The prize for a startup that becomes an integral part of the data stack is massive. There is an opportunity for a winner-takes-all outcome, as well as the potential to build a decacorn, or a startup with a market capitalization of $100 billion.

And even if that doesn’t pan out, startups could still be acquired by one of the existing data infrastructure mainstays like Snowflake, Fivetran, DBT, Tableau or Looker. For example, Streamlit, the three-year-old startup that developed an open-source project for building data-based apps, was acquired by Snowflake for $800 million in March 2022. That’s not a shabby outcome.

Why companies are doubling down on data infrastructure

Let’s revisit 2020. The pandemic accelerated a shift to remote work, telehealth, zoom calls and Netflix streaming. It also skyrocketed demand for last-mile delivery of Amazon packages. Combined with supply-chain constraints, consumer behavior was forever altered.

From a business perspective, the COVID-19 crisis rapidly accelerated the adoption of analytics and AI. More than half (52%) of businesses accelerated their AI adoption plans to help alleviate skills shortages, boost productivity, deliver new products and services and address supply chain issues.

For example, snack giant Frito-Lay ramped up its digital and data-driven initiatives, compressing five years’ worth of digital plans into six months. They delivered an ecommerce platform, Snacks.com, in just 30 days and leveraged shopper data to predict store openings, shifts in demand and changes in tastes to reset product offerings all the way down to the store level within a particular zip code.

But when pivoting quickly to meet new needs, many businesses realized their existing data stacks couldn’t cut it. They faced challenges with long turnaround times to untangle and set up infrastructure, as well as slow response times to new information — not to mention incredibly expensive journeys to insights. 

Businesses now need to move to a sustainable operating model, replace long-term commitments with plug-and-play flexibility, evolve from one-off analytics to operational business intelligence and lead with data governance rather than considering it an afterthought. In other words, businesses need a modern data stack.

And data infrastructure is here to stay for a simple reason: Companies will always need data and consumers and businesses will only generate more of it. The amount of data created and consumed worldwide in 2022 will be in the range of 97 zettabytes, or 97 billion terabytes, and it is growing more than 19% year over year. In addition, the power of data in determining a company’s success will only increase moving forward — as will the number of tools for aggregating, connecting, storing, transforming, querying, analyzing and visualizing that data.

Where VCs are placing their beta

Pitchbook reported that the top 30 data infrastructure startups have “raised over $8 billion in venture capital in the last five years at an aggregate value of $35 billion.“ Data infrastructure is unique in the sense that there’s a data pipeline, where data moves throughout the various parts of an organization. This involves aggregating and connecting data, storing it and making computations, transforming it and ultimately visualizing it.

This means investments in data infrastructure companies remain intriguing despite an overall slowdown in VC investments — and, as a result, startups are uniquely positioned to weather the economic downturn. 

According to Hansae Catlett, VP at Bessemer Venture Partners: “Many data infrastructure startups have an opportunity to become part of the modern data stack. There will always be room for a startup that can fill in a key technical hole of the stack that remains open or solves a key business problem. As re-platforming continues to unfold, opportunities exist to even unseat recently established players like Snowflake and Looker as part of the canonical data stack. Data infrastructure advancements are driven by secular trends — cloud adoption, growth in data — so despite the downturn, we believe this momentum will persist.”

That’s why VCs are placing their bets on both sides: data infrastructure technology and business applications. 

Data infrastructure technologies include next-generation Snowflakes, real-time processing for analytical and operational needs and machine learning (ML) toolkits. Business applications encompass data analytics that empower business users to act like data scientists and data analytics for specific verticals.

Unicorns and M&A on the horizon

Given the massive opportunity for a winner-takes-all outcome in data infrastructure, valuations will continue to be high. That’s because those startups that become locked into this new ecosystem early—even if they are just a small piece of the overall whole — will inevitably become the go-to provider for everyone else who uses the data stack. That also means there’s ample potential for a return, even at the unicorn valuations we’re seeing now.

Data infrastructure will also likely see more M&A in early 2023 because this economic climate will create a do-or-die situation for many companies. There’s a lot of great technology being built, but not all of today’s startups can mature into standalone companies.

Meanwhile, there are many niche problems across the data stack and those problems might not be large enough for a top data infrastructure company. But, they can still present exciting opportunities for new companies to incorporate into their products. 

According to Noel Yuhanna, a Forrester VP and principal analyst, Snowflake originally started with supporting tools presenting data to non-data specialists.

But recently, the platform has expanded to support broader-use cases, including data science, data engineering, and other forms of analytics.

Yuhanna adds: “We find that organizations don’t want 10 different platforms to support various initiatives, but an integrated data platform that can support multiple use cases across multiple personas.”

It’s only going to get hotter and hotter. Those who have placed early bets on infrastructure are going to see huge returns, especially as M&A heats up now through 2023.

Rekha Ravindra is a principal with Rsquared Acceleration.

Infrastructure stimulus and the transition to renewable-energy generation could provide a big boost to some stocks in 2023. Unfortunately, one of them won’t be around for investors to play.

That would be Atlas Technical Consultants (ticker: ATCX), which Barron’s recommended buying ahead of Congress passing the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in late 2021, when shares were around $9. Atlas, which provides engineering and design services, inspection and certification of buildings and public works, and other construction-related services, benefited from the infrastructure-spending buzz in the following months: The stock rose to $13 by March 2022. Those gains didn’t last. By the end of the year, shares were below $6 as investors fretted over Atlas’ substantial debt load in a rising-rate environment.

Waze is a great tool for getting yourself around as quickly as possible. There's a running joke that the app will send you through an active warzone and avoid traffic — even if it only improves your ETA by a few seconds. That's a big part of why it's so popular among certain crowds.

But Waze is able to do a lot more than offer up directions, and get you around faster than Google Maps. There are a bunch more features on offer, and not all of them are obvious. So to help you get the most out of Waze, here are 15 essential Waze tips you should know about.

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With gas prices at record levels, it pays to know how to find cheap gas. Waze can help you find them, with a feature that displays the price of the different types of gasoline and diesel at any given location.