Steam beta update allows downloads while playing games

Oh how I’ve been waiting for this

Initiating a game on Steam will annoyingly pause all of your active downloads but at least there’s been the option to alt-tab your way back and manually resume downloading. It’s a workaround that shouldn’t need to exist, and Valve is finally making progress here.

A recent Steam client beta update adds the option to let games download while a game is running. There’s only one small problem: the feature is on a per-game setting. So it’s still not as seamless a process as it could be. The update also includes improvements to the user interface, Big Picture mode, and the Steam client for Linux — find the list below or at that link.

General

• Add ability to limit what time of day Steam is allowed to automatically update apps
• Add option to let other games download while a game is running (this is a per-game setting)
• Add download regions for Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Ottawa in Canada
• Add ‘Copy all text to clipboard’ context menu option in the System Information dialog.

Steam client UI

• Improve downloading status text at the bottom of the main window

Big Picture

• Added ability to opt into game betas and edit launch options
• Added Inbox item under Linux if your machine requires a reboot due to OS level updates
• Fix infinite loop of Cloud sync error dialogs on game launch
• Fixed mouse cursor being visible during startup animation even if it hadn’t moved

Linux

• Fix paste pasting stale text.
• Fix Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V in client-hosted web page text controls.
• Fix incorrect foregrounding of a blank window in some -silent startup cases.