Steam’s Revamped Mobile App

Valve just updated the Steam mobile app on Android and iOS, and it’s vastly different (in a good way) than the previous version. In addition to a new redesign, it comes with a couple of new features that are supposed to make it easier to sign in on Steam without having to enter a Steam Guard code.

For one, the app lets you view your entire game library, which appears in a grid-like format, showing game covers and titles that you can sort through with the included filters. You remotely update and download games on your PC and receive notifications for sales, friend requests, and more. The app also introduces a new “store browsing experience for mobile screens,” as well as a way to search for and purchase games, complete with the community and news items you’re used to in the desktop version. With the update, you can scan a QR code to get into your account on your computer or laptop, eliminating the need for you to enter your username, password, or Steam Guard code. When you sign in with a QR code, Steam says the app will display a confirmation page along with a map and geolocation of where your device is located. From here, you can verify that you’re the person who’s signing into your account, not a hacker.

If you don’t want to use your camera to sign in, you can also confirm that you’re signing in with an “Approve” or “Deny” prompt that will appear on the app. While this lets you skip entering a Steam Guard code, you’ll still have to enter your username and password. The app will also display a list of authorized devices, allowing you to sign out of Steam remotely if you left your account logged in on someone else’s PC, find out when it last used your account, or revoke access altogether. Steam first rolled out the beta version of the app in August. As someone who can never keep track of their Steam password (and finds Steam Guard codes annoying), this all comes as a welcome change. Steam says it’s also working on bringing its new QR code sign-ins to the Steam Deck and is updating its Chat app with “various bug fixes” too, which is coming to Android today, with iOS “soon to follow.”

Minecraft Player Collects a Year’s Worth of Experience Points in One Go

A Minecraft fan has uploaded a video of themselves collecting a year's worth of XP in one go, thanks to cactuses and a furnace. As a video game that's perfect for alleviating boredom, Mojang's open-world sandbox title is chock-full of content and things to do, affording players the ability to unleash their creative potential. Along the way, whether it's through crafting or exploring, experience points can be gathered, which can be used to enchant items, and there are many ways to earn it.

Pretty much all players farm for XP in Minecraft, whether they intend to or not. It can be earned by mining certain ores, killing enemies, breeding animals, defeating bosses, or even having a relaxing time fishing, and a myriad other ways. Over the course of an average playthrough, earning a lot of XP can be a long process, and dying will set players back to zero. However, one fan has shown that it's possible to collect a ton of experience points in one go, though even this requires a lot of patience. Reddit user JustinTimeCuber shared a clip of themselves just playing a game of Minecraft as normal. At the start, they can be seen approaching a series of furnaces, one of which has a sign saying "DO NOT TOUCH until September 21 2022." They then throw their items down and stand on lava until they die. Upon respawning, they approach one of the furnaces and activate a lever. As soon as they do, their XP bar begins to shoot up, reaching level 226 within a matter of seconds. Apparently, this is the equivalent of 196,000 little green balls of experience, all collected in around eight seconds. The user was able to achieve this by smelting cactuses in a furnace, which creates green dye in Minecraft and grants XP upon collection. However, JustinTimeCuber didn't grab the dye immediately and instead spent a year continually adding cactuses to the furnace. Once they activated the switch, a year's worth of XP, and a ton of green dye, was unleashed all in one go. Many would agree that the video is quite pleasing to the eye. Minecraft truly is a game with near-infinite replayability. After more than a decade, it doesn't appear the community is growing tired of it, with so many fans coming forward to show off their projects, ideas, and discoveries. To spend a year building up XP does take some dedication, and it will be interesting to see what other playthroughs gamers will demonstrate next.