Steam Hub

What is Steam Hub?

Steam Hub is the unofficial Steam app for Windows 8. Launch games, pin them to your Start menu, customize their tiles, manage favorites & categories, view news, shop on the store, chat with friends, and get deal notifications for daily deals.

In order to launch games, Steam for desktop must be installed. Don't have a desktop-enabled device (like the Surface)? No problem, you can't launch games (yet?) but you can still manage them and all your settings sync across devices (if you want them to!).

When will it be released?

Follow development on our site: http://steamhubapp.com/
Follow development on Twitter: @SteamHubApp
Follow development on Facebook: Steam Hub Facebook Page

The app is still under development but I am gunning for the first version to be submitted the first week of December. I just started this project November 30. That means I probably won't make the Apptivate deadline of Dec 6 for a certified app for the Windows Store BUT I am submitting this in any case.

Will it be free?

The app will be "freemium" since I work on this alone in my free time. You'll be able to do everything in the free version, but a few features might be available at a cost (still undecided). The Steam desktop application is free and always has been, I want to continue that philosophy but I also need to support its development. Suggestions are welcome on monetization.

Roadmap

Initial Version (this week)

This is what I plan to finalize before release. I wish to get this onto the store ASAP so some of these not-as-important features will fall off into the next release.

  • Launch games from the app (done)
  • Pin games to start menu (done)
  • Sort games alphabetically with Semantic Zoom support (done)
  • Open game details in browser (not started)
  • Hide games you don't care about (or aren't installed) (not started)
  • Full touch support (I own a Surface I am constantly testing on) (wip)
  • Basic search charm support (not started)
  • Snap view (done)
  • Wide, Square, and Small tile logo support (wip)
  • Sync settings across devices (done)

Pipe Dream Features

This everything I hope to do, even if they're a dream.

  • Category support for library
  • In-app profile (not launched inside a browser)
  • "Launch To" - launch a game from your non-Steam-enabled device (possible?) to a device with the Companion app installed
  • Store browser
  • Community browser
  • Steam chat
  • Steam deals with Live Tile and Push Notification support
  • Live tiles for pinned games (news?)
  • Non-Steam-game support
  • Customization of pinned tiles
  • Customization of in-app library screen (essentially like the Start screen)

Technical Details

I am using the public Steam Community API to retrieve a user's games. It requires a Steam Community profile, but that's the best way I've found of getting at your game list.

I am using WinJS right now, but if the app is successful, I may also develop a Windows Phone version (there already is a Steam WP app).

Screenshots

Comments

1
rzhw Dec 5 '12 at 11:03
Nicely done. Glad to see a polished UI. Seen lots of people using OblyTile for Steam games, and I'm assuming you grab those images automatically, so you've got a nice alternative there. Oh and, I can definitely imagine this along the Steam Mobile apps :)
subkamran Dec 5 '12 at 15:52
Nice. I will probably release a separate Store app for custom tiles, based on what I create with this. Once customization is implemented, you'll be able to easily grab images from a few places that I think people will really like.
1
João Gala Louros Dec 4 '12 at 16:48
Great idea! I will give it a try when you release it.
1
Sandra Walters Dec 3 '12 at 19:28
Very nice idea, can't wait to try the app out!
1
Marcus Vinicius Vasconcelos Dec 3 '12 at 17:33
Awesome, man! There is a way to be informed when its released?
subkamran Dec 4 '12 at 16:06
I will be creating social media accounts shortly you can follow
subkamran Dec 4 '12 at 16:17
Annnd, here you go! twitter.com/SteamHubApp
1
Software Developer Dec 3 '12 at 13:55
very nice, why didn't Gabe Newell think to do this.
subkamran Dec 3 '12 at 14:55
Well, he did say he hated Windows 8. But I sent him an email to get his thoughts on the project!
subkamran Dec 3 '12 at 14:57
There is an app called Pin Steam on the store that is dedicated to pinning Steam games. It's good but it's also $1.50 for the convenience. I want to bring more value and I think devices like Surface could benefit from a native Steam interface.
eih Dec 5 '12 at 0:10
Nice idea and effort!