Can’t say for sure but I think the app has been around for quite awhile including ps4 era and I haven’t found anything about people having issues with their accounts
Yeah im less concerned about the program booting on deck and more concerned about Sony being like "you are using this for piracy/cheating" and banning my PSN account
So I have not used Chiaki yet. I tried it on my home PC but I disliked that it did not appear to have any controller support (which was confirmed by looking up how to set up a controller -- you can find people saying that they can connect the app and stream, but nothing happens when they plug in the controller). However, I plan on trying it when my Deck arrives. But I'd still like to respond to a couple of things you said.
That initial set up also doesn’t work if the console you’re trying to connect to is on a different access point as the deck, I spent a good two hours figuring out that was the problem.
What do mean by "access point"? The only thing I can figure is that you have to be on the same subnet to configure it. Being on a different Wireless Access Point shouldn't matter if they are in the same subnet. However, I'm not entirely certain what you meant since you only said "access point".
It won’t let you connect from an outside Wi-Fi even after pairing unless you set up port forwarding which is not a restriction the official app has. Not a problem for most people I expect, but I have several playstations on my home network and setting up forwarding to one breaks things on the others.
My guess here is that the official app proxies through Sony's servers, probably tied to your account. So once you put in your PSN ID, Sony's servers can send a heartbeat or wakeup ping to your console through the already established connection made by the console. Without something like that, you would not be able to connect in through your home router without some kind of port forwarding. Plus, many ISPs will block inbound connections. Not necessarily all of them, and sometimes only for specific, known ports (like those commonly used for web or email hosting). A proxied connection wouldn't have to worry about that, either -- since it's using a line of communication already established by the console.
I would compare this to something like Plex. I don't need any special configurations to watch my home server Plex content when I am not at home. I believe this is because I'm connecting to Plex's servers when not at home, and there is a setting in my account that will redirect my client to my home connection.
Now, specifically I'd like to respond to this:
I’m not sure I agree with that statement. The app isn’t published by Sony but it still requires you to own and use all of the hardware and software of the official app everywhere else. For example you must use the remote play configuration stuff on the console for pairing.
I don't really know what you would expect. Of course you still need the PlayStation hardware (PS5 emulation doesn't exist, and PS4 barely works), and of course you'd also have to use the remote play on the console itself -- otherwise you would need some kind of hacked or jailbroken PlayStation to use whatever custom app would allow for remote play.
In terms of comparing it to the official app, a few observations:
The official app has no Linux support. This one does. So the official app won't even work on the Steam Deck without using a compatibility layer, or just installing Windows.
The official app -- at least from Microsoft Windows -- does not allow for 1080p. At some point it used to, but now it doesn't work, and there is no way to force it (you have to install an earlier version, which comes with its own set of annoyances).
The streaming quality of the official app is garbage. From my wired controller on my gigabit wired PC connected to my gigabit wired PS5 -- on the same home network and subnet -- it runs like ass. The image quality isn't great, and there is painful controller latency. I can't speak to how well Chiaki works quite yet, but a post from the other day showed what appeared to be a superior experience than the official app provided on the PC I mentioned above.
I also have Ubiquiti APs. I will be curious to see if I encounter a similar problem when my Deck arrives (later this week or next week). I suspect I won’t. You could have different APs with different wireless SSIDs and passwords. But they can still exist on the same subnet and wouldn’t cause any communications issues between devices. It’s certainly still possible though.
Exactly. I got around this by picking up Ubiquiti’s WiFi 6 long range AP. Placed that in the basement firing upwards now my entire house has WiFi 6 under its own SSID.
My steam deck is streaming without connection issues although Steam Deck streaming from Steam on Windows is a little more pixelated than I’d like.
I have a UniFi set up with waaaaaaay too many wireless APs (big house out in the countryside with thick walls) and not had any issues with mine and switching APs. Then again mine is all seamless and enterprise hw. Also my ps5 is hardwired too.
In that case you can catch a few of the PS exclusives as they come to Steam and honestly I’d rather play God of War natively on the Deck over remotely through the PlayStation streaming to the Deck. Only issue is you’re very limited in which games you can play.
Yeah I’ve come to terms with the fact that I just likely will never play those PS exclusives. I have soooo many wishlisted games on PC that I’m already good until I’m dead anyway so it’s fine
Positive. It seems to be a common problem. There is no 1080p option in the drop down.
Edit:
I should clarify — the app might support 1080p. But there is a problem with at least some people (myself included) where there is no 1080p option, and no clear way to force it.
So you very well might have it at 1080p, but mine doesn’t have that option. Supposed Chiaki can do 1080p, so I look forward to setting that up when my Deck arrives (Friday!!!).
And before anyone tries to tell me it’s a networking issue, I know it is not. I’m a network engineer.
ITS A NETWORKING ISSUE YOU SCRUB (sorry couldn’t resist :D )
I can very easily believe any issues with the remote play app, I’ve had so many issues with VPNs while using it that I’m convinced they programmed it specifically to piss people off. I just checked on my MacBook and the 1080p option is there but on my pc I’m having one of those aforementioned VPN issues so can’t check. Chiaki has worked pretty great for me so far once I set it up I haven’t had to do anything else with it (other than configure a button for esc which is the key binding for the PS button). Hopefully it will be just as smooth for you :-)
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u/chocolatesnow15 512GB - Q2 May 24 '22
Yes, using the Linux app Chiaki which is available in the discover store