Steam recently got a big overhaul to its library view, bringing with it large icons for games, new sorting methods, and new tabs, to better keep track of updates and events for a given title. This UI took the place of the old, forcing users to adapt to the new look. However, not everyone liked this style, it reportedly took up more RAM in the background, and after so many years, some found it hard to get used to the change, so Steam has fixed that by bringing back the "small library" mode, the original look, in a beta update. If you opt-in to beta client updates, you can grab the new-old version, which has an option to change your sidebar of games back into a list, (>view>small mode) with tiny icons on the side. Those icons can also be turned off, returning the client back to how it looked, prior to the revamp.

Source

• Brought back Small Mode library view and updated to work with Steam Collections and the new Steam Library
  
• Added a library setting to hide game icons in the Steam Library’s left column game list
  
• Fixed download progress bar and status wrapping to a second line on game pages on smaller windows
  
• Compressed game page links bar to one line on smaller Steam windows
  
• Post-game summary, game review reminder and other dynamic content on game pages will now fill only one column on wider Steam windows
  
• Fixed occasional crashes caused when uninstalling games
  
• Fixed Steam client crash after exiting some AutoCloud-enabled games
  
• Fixed a case where game icons would sometimes not properly be downloaded and used for the game's desktop shortcut when installing a game. For for previously installed games affected by the problem, validating game contents and recreating the shortcuts should fix the issue.

 

[ken28]

dont get what people dont like about the new grid. then again some people like to complain for the sake of complaining as seen with pokemon.

 

[grey72]

dont get what people dont like about the new grid. then again some people like to complain for the sake of complaining as seen with pokemon.

Nice bait buddy

 

[Viri]

That new layout sucks big time

Yeah, I agree. But, it is pretty refreshing to see a company actually try to address the issues, and try and give people options. I'm more used to Google changing shit up, and if you bitch and complain, they tell you to pretty much "fuck off, and deal with it!".

 

[ken28]

Yeah, I agree. But, it is pretty refreshing to see a company actually try to address the issues, and try and give people options. I'm more used to Google changing shit up, and if you bitch and complain, they tell you to pretty much "fuck off, and deal with it!".

Yeah like their recent removal of the leanback feature on pc.....

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Not a huge fan of the new layout myself, uses way too much space to display things I don't care about so that's nice.

Would be better if they let us completely customize the entire layout, IMO, but this is good enough.

 

[the_randomizer]

Yeah, I agree. But, it is pretty refreshing to see a company actually try to address the issues, and try and give people options. I'm more used to Google changing shit up, and if you bitch and complain, they tell you to pretty much "fuck off, and deal with it!".

I'm not enrolled in beta (don't trust it) so I gotta wait.

 

[GilgameshArcher]

as long as they keep those nice sales I'm glad!

 

[SonicRings]

Great, so now we have to opt in for the BETA to keep using old features..

Without the beta, just open 'steam://open/minigameslist' to keep using small mode.

"Hmm. We’re having trouble finding that site."

 

[chaoskagami]

Good, because I was abstaining from updating steam until they did so.

I don't care what Valve thinks, anybody with the 250+ game badge probably can't physically manage their shit with the new view.

The small view was awful, they used 75% of the space to show what friends played and recently started games instead of showing the game list I actually wanted to see.

Eh? You must have a really tiny screen, then.

"Hmm. We’re having trouble finding that site."

For some reason, it appears the URL in that link is completely wrong. GBAtemp appears to screw up non-HTTP/HTTPS/FTP/FTPS URIs. Punch that in the address bar.

 

[SonicRings]

Good, because I was abstaining from updating steam until they did so.

I don't care what Valve thinks, anybody with the 250+ game badge probably can't physically manage their shit with the new view.



Eh? You must have a really tiny screen, then.



For some reason, it appears the URL in that link is completely wrong. GBAtemp appears to screw up non-HTTP/HTTPS/FTP/FTPS URIs. Punch that in the address bar.

Ah there we go, thanks! It's working. Though I wish it could be incorporated into the actual client. Not willing to sign up for beta either. Guess I'll just have to wait.

 

[DarthDub]

Options are always nice. I actually prefer the new look. Now if they would put if a game was multiplayer or not without having to go to the Store page for a game would be nice..

 

[Wuigi]

@chaoskagami I have two 24" screens, it is still a tiny scrolling list for the games at the left side by default, only after toggling an option after every start the 75% of the steam window on the right are used to display game specific information.

 

[Exaltys]

The big issue with the new UI is that the rectangles are oriented vertical for the game images. Steam Big Picture mode meanwhile orients the rectangles are horizontal. Good luck choosing a a custom image for games that don't have an image at all or for custom shortcuts.

 

[The Minish LAN]

Maybe they can also add back the preview demos that disappeared from my damn library when I installed the beta. Had to go back to stable to download them again.