The Elgato Stream Deck is definitely one of the most popular tools for streamers. The Elgato Stream Deck is basically a super stylish, nicely finished LCD control panel.
It provides streamers with a lot of options via its 15, 6, or 32-key panels of programmable buttons in the case of the main Stream Deck, the Stream Deck Mini, and the Stream Deck XL respectively.
Each key is a full-color LCD display that can be fully customized (and can display icons, symbols, or custom images), but the best thing about the Elgato Stream Deck is that it can be a studio/action controller, or a production console, or a basic audio mixer, in short – it can be a lot of things for a lot of users.
Streaming is not something that’s usually associated with the usage of Linux, but that doesn’t mean that nobody does it, which is exactly why StreamController is exciting.
StreamController is basically an Elgato Stream Deck manager, albeit an unofficial one. It’s free and open-source and comes with support for multiple decks, as well as custom background images, videos, as well as icons.
The app boasts a polished (albeit not flashy) GTK4 interface, making it perfect for those running GNOME desktops.
In terms of features, StreamController boasts the following: the ability to send network requests, support for Wayland (and support for hotkeys), and the ability to control music and to control OBS Studio. By far the best feature of this app is the the plugin support.
The app also allows users to run multiple commands, as well as mix the volume of different apps. What I found to be really cool is the fact that the app can be tested without the actual presence of an Elgato Stream Deck device.
Using something called “Fake Decks,” I’ve been able to test a lot of the app’s functionality. This means that any Stream Deck (or potential) user can test the app before making the switch to Linux.
