Install a Client

This page is the install path for each named client. For what each client is and which to pick, see Clients; to install the host, see Install the Host. Whichever client you install, the first connection needs a one-time pairing. If the app installs but your host doesn't appear in its list, start at Troubleshooting -> The host isn't found on the network.

Already installed? Skip to Keeping a client up to date or Removing a client.

The Android link below is the current preview channel. Tagged releases currently publish Linux host artifacts; client packages use separate distribution paths. See Release Channels.

Pick your device

Android

The Android client is currently distributed as a public APK. Sideload the Android APK or build from clients/android/. Download the accompanying checksum and verify it before copying the APK to the tablet, then allow installs from your browser or file manager the first time.

sha256sum -c app-release.apk.sha256
adb install -r app-release.apk

Steam Deck

Most Deck users want Gaming Mode: install the Decky plugin and a Slipstream panel lands in the Quick Access Menu, so you can discover hosts, pair with a PIN, and stream without dropping to the desktop. Follow the Steam Deck (Decky) guide , it walks through Decky Loader, the plugin, and the one-time client install.

The plugin doesn't decode video itself, it drives the Flatpak slipstream-client installed on the Deck. Public client packages are updated manually using the steps below. The Gaming Mode panel comes from the plugin, so a client on its own won't add it. The Decky guide covers installing both.

For Desktop Mode (or to add the client to Game Mode as a non-Steam app yourself), install the Flatpak; it carries its own libadwaita + SDL3 and survives SteamOS updates:

# Build locally, or install a .flatpak from GitHub Releases when attached:
# flatpak install --user --bundle /path/to/slipstream-client.flatpak
bash packaging/flatpak/build-flatpak.sh
flatpak install --user --bundle dist/slipstream-client-*.flatpak

See packaging/flatpak.

Anything else, Moonlight

Any device with a Moonlight client (browser, old phone, smart TV) connects over GameStream with no slipstream-specific software. See Connect with Moonlight.

Keeping a client up to date

The host and clients use separate release channels. A client and a host don't have to be on the same version, but keeping them close is the least surprising. (Updating the host is its own page: Updating.)

Removing a client

The removal command for every client, and what removal deliberately leaves behind, this device's identity and its saved hosts, and the pairing on the host, are on Uninstalling -> Clients. The same page covers forgetting your saved hosts without uninstalling anything, and removing the host.