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Latest public release below. Early Access drops a few weeks ahead for Patreon backers. Hit a bug? Come into the Discord. One of us is usually around.

Early Access

Winhanced Early Access

Hot off the build server. First crack at new features, occasionally a little rough at the edges. The version Patreon backers play.

Build 0.9.9.7
Released August 10, 2026
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Winhanced

The stable build. Free, no sign-in, no account. Download and run.

Build 0.9.9.7
Released August 10, 2026
Access Everyone
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Patch Notes

22 releases
0.9.9.7 Latest August 10, 2026

✦ New Features

Winhanced 0.9.9.7 is a hotfix focused on your game library telling the truth. A failed or interrupted sync can no longer erase, blank or duplicate your games, and signing in to a storefront via settings now imports it without the need to restart.

Your Libraries

  • Every library settings page now has a Resync button that refreshes just that library, including your friends list where the platform has one
  • Winhanced now tells you when a store sign-in has expired and needs signing in again

Xbox and Game Pass

  • The Game Pass and xCloud catalog views can now be sorted by recently added and by leaving soon
  • Play Anywhere titles are now tagged so you can spot them at a glance

Steam

  • Games that ship several launch options (default, 64-bit, VR) now ask once which you want, and remembers the answer

Emulators and ROMs

  • Console icons now appear on ROM tiles, on the console header inside a library, and on the game details panel

Your Other Games

  • Games found in the Other Games directories you add are matched better, and a checklist lets you choose which files you are adding. Anything unrecognized is offered for review instead of being imported blindly

Streaming

  • Xbox Remote Play and GeForce NOW now stream inside Winhanced's own window instead of opening Microsoft Edge like xCloud currently works today

News

  • Added Pure Xbox and Handheld Guru to the news sources

⬡ Bug Fixes

Your Library

  • A failed or interrupted sync can no longer erase, hide, blank or duplicate your games. If a scan cannot finish, your library stays as it was
  • Fixed duplicate tiles in the library, most visibly duplicate emulators
  • Fixed playtime and achievement counts dropping to zero after a failed fetch. They only move forward now
  • Fixed descriptions, genres, artwork and covers being blanked by a later, thinner refresh
  • Hiding a game is now a display setting rather than a deletion, so anything hidden can be restored from Settings > Hidden Games
  • Recent Games now reflects what you last played rather than only what is installed

Signing In and Syncing

  • Fixed signing in to Steam, Xbox, Epic, GOG or PlayStation needing a restart before that library appeared
  • Fixed Epic quietly going dead partway through a session, so Epic games stopped updating until you restarted
  • Fixed the Epic install folder and direct-launch setting being reset on their own

Steam

  • Installed Steam games now launch from Steam's own launch configuration, which is quicker for games without Steam DRM
  • Fixed non-Steam shortcuts starting Steam when they had nothing to do with it
  • With Steam closed, Winhanced now starts it quietly in the background instead of opening the full client and store window (only for games that legitimately need Steam running)
  • Games no longer sit through a fixed delay before starting

Xbox and Game Pass

  • Fixed missing playtime and achievements for Xbox games whose title could not be identified
  • Fixed add-ons and DLC appearing as separate games in your Xbox library
  • Fixed Play Anywhere titles showing up twice
  • Fixed xCloud games missing achievements, playtime and a place on the Recent Games row

Emulators and ROMs

  • Fixed adding or removing a ROM folder needing a restart before it appeared or cleared, and it now shows progress while it scans
  • Fixed the ROM library disappearing from view when emulators were rescanned
  • Fixed a ROM staying in your library after its folder was removed

PlayStation

  • Fixed games being marked uninstalled when the console could not be reached
  • Added potential support for PS4 consoles for remote play (untested)

Streaming

  • Fixed the HUD, the exit path and the widget behaving differently for a stream than for a game running locally
  • Fixed a stream showing the previous game's artwork in the widget
  • Fixed the stream window sometimes not opening in fullscreen
  • For PlayStation Remote Play, exiting via the WinHUD now also puts your console to sleep

Devices and Display

  • Fixed game detection stopping after the screen dimmed and the device slept
  • Fixed controller navigation stopping after sleep and wake
  • Winhanced now checks its privileged components at startup and prompts you to repair them if they are damaged

Interface

  • Fixed the back button returning you to the first tile instead of the game you came from. The same fix restores your place after exiting a game and after alt-tabbing back to Winhanced
  • Fixed the Remove buttons in the settings tables being unreachable with a controller
  • Fixed the Art Forward and GlassStation home views keeping the previous game's artwork after you moved away from it, and not returning focus to your games row when you came back
  • Fixed removing a game from the Other library not sticking, and ignored programs can now be restored from Settings > Hidden Games

Store and News

  • Fixed game deals not loading
  • Fixed wishlist price alerts being lost when you changed region, and price-drop cards staying after the deal ended
  • Fixed prices and controls misreading on systems that use a comma as the decimal separator
  • What's New now opens instantly
0.9.9.6 Previous August 5, 2026

✦ Controller Navigation, Rebuilt

Winhanced 0.9.9.6 is a hotfix focused on reliability. It keeps your installed games, downloads, and controllers working correctly no matter what happens, and it rebuilds controller navigation from the ground up.

  • We rebuilt how the D-pad and sticks move around the app. Moving between games, tabs, panels, and settings now works the same way on every screen, so navigation feels consistent and predictable instead of getting stuck or jumping to the wrong place

⬡ Bug Fixes

Controllers & Devices

  • ROG Ally: fixed the Command Center and Armoury buttons firing twice per press, which made the task switcher or Game Bar open and then instantly close
  • ROG Ally: fixed stuttering in the controller RGB effects (Wave, Color Cycle, and Breathing). They now animate smoothly
  • Controller lighting and back-paddle button changes now retry if they don't reach the controller the first time, instead of quietly doing nothing
  • The mouse cursor now hides reliably while you use a controller and comes back the moment you move the mouse. This fixes it sticking on screen, reappearing on its own, or jumping to the middle of the screen
  • Fixed fan curves, the RGB switch, and other device controls sometimes not showing up on hardware that supports them
  • Combined two behind-the-scenes settings that could disagree into a single, reliable Device Control switch

Display & Docking

  • Fixed the interface coming back the wrong size after docking or undocking an external monitor, or after a resolution or scaling change

Your Games & Downloads

  • A failed or interrupted library sync can no longer wipe or hide your installed games. If a scan can't finish, your games stay exactly as they were
  • Cancelling a download can no longer corrupt or delete a game you already have installed
  • Steam: fixed games being briefly shown as uninstalled while Steam updated them in the background
  • Steam: a download can no longer report success while part of it is still missing. If part of a download is lost, it now fails so a retry can finish it cleanly
  • Epic: installs that don't finish writing to disk no longer report success
  • Xbox: a failed library scan no longer leaves the wrong installed status stuck for up to a day

Game Launch

  • The launch screen now clears as soon as your game is on screen, and comes back for the exit animation, instead of lingering or covering the game
0.9.9.5 Previous July 31, 2026

✦ Emulators & ROM Library

Winhanced 0.9.9.5 is a hotfix release focused on making emulated games just work, plus fixes for Legion Go fan curves and Xbox and PlayStation installed states.

  • Pressing Play now just works: if any installed emulator can play a ROM, Winhanced finds it and launches the game
  • Emulators you add yourself with Add Custom Emulator now make your ROMs playable, not just show up as tiles
  • Hundreds of community-verified launch profiles added across 43 consoles, so many more emulators work out of the box (melonDS, DeSmuME, Lime3DS, Panda3DS, and more)
  • If RetroArch is installed but a console's core is missing, Winhanced now downloads the core for you with one click instead of sending you to the RetroArch website
  • If a game needs an emulator you don't have, the download button now takes you to that emulator's official page
  • The emulator picker in game options now shows which emulators are actually installed
  • Emulators kept in custom folders (like an Emulation folder) are now detected automatically, and adding one custom emulator teaches Winhanced where to find the rest of them
  • Newly installed emulators and cores are picked up on the next library sync instead of taking up to a day

✦ For Everyone

  • Achievements viewing is now available to everyone

⬡ Bug Fixes

Devices

  • Fixed the fan curve editor not opening on Legion Go in the Silent, Balanced, and Performance profiles

Library

  • Fixed some Xbox games still showing the wrong installed state
  • Fixed PlayStation games being marked not installed when a library scan failed part-way; failed scans can no longer touch your installed states
0.9.9.4 Previous July 31, 2026

✦ New to Early Access: Emulators & ROM Library

Winhanced 0.9.9.4 opens the Store to everyone, debuts the new Emulators ROM library in early access, and brings a wave of device, library, and quality-of-life fixes across the board.

Your retro collection, treated like a first-class game library.

  • Import your ROM folders and browse them by console, with real box art and metadata filled in automatically from an offline catalog
  • RetroAchievements support: sign in once in Emulator library settings and earn achievements in-game, with your progress shown on each game's details panel and on the home screen
  • Recent Games now shows each game's true box shape: a square Game Boy cover sits next to a tall Steam cover on a clean shelf line, with the focus ring smoothly resizing between them
  • Choose which emulator runs each game with per-game overrides, and redesigned console tiles make each system easy to spot

✦ Exiting Early Access: The Store

The Winhanced Store is now available to everyone.

  • Browse and discover games across the full Steam catalog with personalized recommendations
  • Compare prices across storefronts, with your pricing region configurable in Settings > General

✦ For Everyone

HUD & Controls

  • New HUD tiles: a controller RGB master switch, display brightness with an Ultra Dim mode, and a mouse mode toggle
  • Mouse mode now works on every device from the HUD: native firmware mouse mode on ROG Ally and MSI Claw, software stick-mouse everywhere else. (Double-clicking R3 no longer toggles mouse mode.)
  • The mouse cursor now hides automatically while you navigate with a controller and returns the moment you use the mouse

PlayStation

  • Library import now pulls your full owned list, with proper hero artwork even for games you haven't played yet
  • Remotely install games to your PS5 from Winhanced, with live progress and cancel
  • PlayStation library now properly shows console installed vs not installed status like other libraries and will appear in recent games

Devices & Performance

  • Custom fan curves now work on the MSI Claw A1M and Claw A8, joining the Claw 7/8 AI+ and Claw 8 EX
  • Expanded device support: OneXPlayer 3, GPD Win 5, Intel Panther Lake handhelds, and Ryzen AI Max devices, plus broader ASUS, Lenovo, and AMD power control routing
  • Winhanced can now detect and silently repair damaged runtime components on its own

Library & Interface

  • "Remove from Library" is now "Hide from Library," with a new Hidden Games section in Settings to manage and restore hidden titles
  • Settings sections restyled with glass cards, and the game details panel gains a close button
  • Friends' Discord invites can now launch straight into Winhanced via invite links

⬡ Bug Fixes

Devices

  • Fixed the Winhanced device control toggle failing to enable on machines running full Armoury Crate, including the ROG Flow Z13
  • Legion Go and Go 2: fixed RGB lighting controls, back paddle remaps, controller enumeration, performance profiles, and erratic controller behavior after sleep
  • Fixed compatibility issues with reWASD and with OptiScaler frame generation on Intel GPUs

Library & Home

  • Fixed newly added non-Steam shortcuts and PlayStation imports taking over the Recent Games row: games now appear there only once actually played or installed through Winhanced
  • Fixed newly installed Steam games not being recognized until a restart
  • Fixed the wrong installed state showing for some Xbox games
  • Fixed the footer getting stuck on "Library Sync"
  • Fixed game artwork sometimes appearing in the wrong language

Accounts

  • Fixed Steam sign-ins silently expiring and requiring a QR re-login
  • Fixed Xbox friends showing raw ID numbers instead of gamertags

Stability & Interface

  • Fixed a crash that could occur when installing a game and then navigating away
  • Fixed a black screen that could appear at startup while game data loaded
  • Fixed controller stick navigation feeling unresponsive after certain screen transitions
  • Fixed a memory leak in library badge rendering
0.9.9.3 Previous July 20, 2026

✦ Lossless Scaling

Winhanced 0.9.9.3 is a Lossless Scaling overhaul: frame generation now runs in the Winhanced Service, toggles apply instantly and reliably, settings change live mid-game, and HDR handling is fully automatic.

  • Lossless Scaling now runs in the Winhanced Service, so frame generation and scaling keep working even when the main Winhanced app is closed
  • Turning Lossless Scaling on from the HUD now reliably applies to your game. Previously it could report on while nothing changed on screen
  • Turning it off now works instantly, every time. Previously scaling could get stuck on until a reboot
  • Changing Lossless Scaling settings mid-game (frame generation, flow scale, and more) now applies live instead of silently turning scaling off
  • HDR handling is now fully automatic: Winhanced matches Lossless Scaling to your display's actual color mode, fixing games turning dark or washed out while scaling. The HUD's HDR toggle has been replaced with an automatic status
  • Your Lossless Scaling on/off choice is remembered per game, re-applies when that game launches, and shuts off cleanly when the game exits. It no longer carries over into other games
  • The HUD's Lossless Scaling controls were repaired and hardened, and the main toggle no longer flips back on its own or shows the wrong state while the overlay is open

⬡ Bug Fixes

Library

  • More reliable library loading and syncing, with sturdier game-session detection
  • The Emulators library now opens directly to your emulators. The ROM games tab is hidden in this release while we finish polishing it

Overlay and Interface

  • Smoother artwork transitions when opening game details and when launching or exiting games
  • Additional service and runtime stability fixes behind the overlay and performance settings

Devices and Display

  • Improved controller input and focus handling, plus controller RGB reliability fixes
  • Better restore of your display resolution and refresh rate around games that change display modes
0.9.9.2 Previous July 19, 2026

✦ For Everyone: The New Performance Engine

Winhanced 0.9.9.2 brings a rebuilt Performance Engine and the all-new HUD 2.0 to everyone: a redesigned overlay, custom per-game fan curves, and new battery and frame-boost options for Intel handhelds. Fresh Home layouts and more game libraries arrive in early access.

  • Smoother, more consistent performance: power tuning settles faster and holds steady instead of bouncing around
  • More stable, accurate wattage and cooling across more handhelds, including MSI Claw, ROG Ally, Legion Go, ROG Flow Z13, and OneXFly
  • Fan control is more reliable: if a fan setting does not take, Winhanced notices and re-applies it for you
  • More accurate power and temperature readouts
  • Steadier performance when docking or connecting an external GPU, and more reliable settings after your device wakes from sleep
  • A safer foundation under the hood, with old high-risk system drivers removed

✦ For Everyone: Winhanced HUD 2.0

Our Xbox Game Bar widget, rebuilt from the ground up.

  • A brand-new tile UI with sorting and categorization makes changing settings faster and easier
  • A redesigned in-game overlay that is cleaner and easier to read at a glance, plus a new overlay editor to customize its position and layout
  • Set custom fan curves for each game and each power profile, right from the widget
  • Endurance Gaming for Intel handhelds: stretch your battery further in longer sessions
  • Frame Generation Override for Intel handhelds: choose between auto, 2x, 3x, and 4x without having to open the Intel graphics software
  • Snappier and overall more reliable
  • The HUD keeps working even when the main Winhanced app is fully closed

✦ New in Early Access

New Home Layouts

  • Two brand-new looks for your Home screen to choose from: Art Forward and GlassStation

Installed Library Support

  • Games you have installed from Ubisoft Connect, EA, Amazon Games, and Battle.net now show up right in your Winhanced library

⬡ Bug Fixes

Steam

  • Fixed Steam getting signed out or interrupted while Winhanced was running
  • Games that use custom launch options now start correctly
  • Winhanced no longer force-closes Steam during installs or restarts
  • When Steam shows its own pop-up that blocks a launch, Winhanced now surfaces it instead of appearing to hang

Performance and Power

  • Fixed MSI Claw 8 EX overheating and unnecessary throttling under load
  • Per-game and per-power-mode fan profiles now save independently instead of overwriting each other
  • Restored the AMD power draw readout in the performance overlay
  • Reduced background power use while the app sits idle

Overlay and Interface

  • Fixed the FPS overlay not appearing in certain games
  • Fixed the quick-settings widget freezing or feeling laggy when updating status
  • Fixed the Play button highlight border staying stuck on screen after use

Library and Store

  • Faster library loading, with cleaner artwork and game details filled in automatically
  • Store search and discovery now cover the full 174,000+ game Steam catalog
  • Better price comparisons, with more stores included and clear price badges
  • Fixed the wrong currency symbol showing on some international prices
  • The Store opens faster, and game detail pages no longer get stuck loading

Fullscreen and Library

  • Fixed the wrong icon and incorrect counts on the fullscreen Home screen
  • Fixed a hang when repairing the fullscreen Home experience
  • Triggers now jump through your library by letter for quicker browsing

Drivers, Devices and Settings

  • Clearer driver updates: optional drivers you do not have installed are now labeled Optional, and Update only appears when there is a genuinely newer version
  • More reliable device detection across ROG Ally, Legion Go, MSI Claw, and Xbox handhelds
  • Your friends list is now sorted by who is active: playing first, then online, away, and offline
  • Screenshot shortcut added to the back paddle button options, and screenshots now give a shutter sound and flash feedback when captured
  • Game updates now stage safely, so an interrupted download can't corrupt your install
  • Updated the core Windows app framework for better system compatibility
  • Fixed settings sometimes not saving
  • Better battery life while your device is in standby, with additional improvements to sleep logic
0.9.9.1 Previous July 1, 2026

✦ The Store

Winhanced 0.9.9.1 introduces the Store: discover games tuned to your taste, compare prices across storefronts, build a wishlist with price-drop alerts, and buy-to-install without ever leaving Winhanced. Plus SteamGridDB artwork, paddle remapping, and RGB lighting control are now out of early access for everyone.

✦ Now Out of Early Access

Available to everyone.

  • SteamGridDB Artwork Browser: swap any game's box art, hero banner, and logo from the Choose Artwork picker
  • Controller Paddle and OEM Remapping: remap OEM buttons and the back paddles on ROG Ally, MSI Claw, Legion Go, Go S, and Go 2 (experimental) per game
  • Controller RGB Lighting: per-zone LED control and per-game lighting profiles on ROG Ally and MSI Claw

✦ New Device Support

  • Added TDP, back paddle, RGB light control, and driver fetching support for MSI Claw EX 8

✦ New in Early Access

The Store

  • Discover: a personalized feed that learns from what you actually play, with rows like "More like [game]," franchise picks, "Trending now," and "Outside your usual"
  • Tune your feed: pick favorite genres and mechanics to steer recommendations, and hide any game or whole row you're not interested in
  • Cross-store price comparison: see the best deal for a game across Steam, Epic, GOG, Xbox/Game Pass, and Humble at a glance
  • Regional pricing: set your region in Settings > General to see prices in your local currency
  • Wishlist: track games with price-drop alerts and one-click import of your existing Steam wishlist
  • Release Calendar: upcoming releases, Game Pass leaving-soon dates, and current sales in one view
  • Cross-store search: fast search with typo tolerance across every connected store
  • Rich detail pages: trailers, reviews, ratings, and price comparisons across stores
  • Seamless buy-to-install: purchase a Steam or Xbox game and Winhanced confirms ownership and can install it for you after purchase
  • Game news & release alerts: a multi-source news feed plus "Notify me" alerts surfaced in What's New

Playtime Everywhere

  • Live playtime now syncs across all your libraries (Steam, GOG, Xbox, Epic, PlayStation), including games you've played on another device or haven't installed yet

⬡ Bug Fixes

Stability & Shutdown

  • Fixed a shutdown freeze (up to ~10 seconds) and the settings and log data loss it caused, from analytics running at close
  • Guarded the AMD GPU metrics reader against a shutdown crash that was being mis-reported
  • More reliable game start and stop detection, with no more stuck "running" states or close-out freezes

Performance & Devices

  • AMD frame cap now uses RTSS only, for correct frame limiting
  • Running games now resolve to the most specific install folder, so the right game is detected in multi-launcher setups
  • More deterministic sleep behavior, with protection against accidental re-wake on standby

Library

  • Non-Steam shortcuts are now removed live when you delete them from Steam
  • Download progress animates on updates, not just fresh installs
  • Cleaner game-tile badges, including a new glass icon for the "Other" library

Controller & Settings

  • Early access dialogs now check your entitlement fresh instead of trusting a stale cache
  • The quick-settings pill is fully controller-navigable: switch audio device, toggle radios, refresh Wi-Fi, search with Y, and read the clock
0.9.8.9 Previous June 18, 2026

✦ New for Everyone

A redesigned game-details view, achievements and trophies across Steam, Xbox, GOG and PlayStation, a unified slide-up drawer, and a smarter, faster library.

Redesigned Game Details

  • Full-bleed hero art with title logo, service pill, and a bottom action dock
  • Hero box art now animates in the banner instead of showing a still frame
  • Game Options now live in the panel: launch arguments, exe override, Remote Play, Manage, and Choose artwork with the SteamGridDB browser
  • Edit Smart Profiles directly in the dock, with full controller navigation through every tab

New Slide-Up Drawer

  • Library, xCloud, Settings, Friends, and What's New now share one consistent slide-up drawer
  • Smoother settings navigation, cleaner headers, and the library scroll resets to top when switching filters

Library

  • New Steam My Games and Non-Steam pivot, matching the Xbox split
  • Your sort choice is now remembered per library across restarts
  • Run apps at startup and import non-Steam shortcuts
  • Per-library Rescan Metadata button, plus smarter background enrichment so startup is faster and quieter

Streaming

  • New 16:10 and 21:9 resolutions and high-refresh FPS options

Controller and Updates

  • L3 and R3 paddle remapping support on ROG Ally and MSI Claw
  • Controller support for confirmation dialogs
  • One-click silent driver updates and automatic app self-updates

Visual Polish

  • Box-art color now tints the game-card specular rim, with themed accent focus and refined card visuals

✦ New for Early Access

Achievements and Trophies

  • Achievement support across Xbox, Steam, and GOG, plus PlayStation trophies
  • A controller-navigable achievements grid right in the details view
  • Steam achievements show proper names and descriptions, with honest per-platform empty states

⬡ Stability

  • GPU performance readers now run only when a supported AMD GPU is present, ending constant error-log spam and wasted polling on PCs with NVIDIA or Intel graphics
  • Pressing B inside a settings dropdown now closes just the dropdown instead of exiting the whole settings panel
0.9.8.8 Previous June 12, 2026

✦ New for Everyone

App and Emulator Libraries: Now for Everyone

Both libraries graduate out of Early Access. Every Winhanced user gets them now.

Apps Library

  • Scan and add any app you want, Progressive Web Apps included, into a dedicated App Library that sits separate from the Other Library
  • Head to Settings → Libraries → Apps and pick "Scan apps". The dialog mirrors the manual games library: search for and check anything you want launchable from Winhanced. The tab only appears once you've added at least one app

Emulator Library

  • Winhanced natively detects and auto-imports from a list of 108 emulators on first scan if it finds them installed on your system
  • Settings → Libraries → Emulators shows everything Winhanced picked up, plus a manual scanner for anything the auto-detect missed (same dialog as the App scanner)
  • Note: Winhanced does not import or display your ROMs the way an emulator frontend would. It launches the emulator directly, or your existing frontend like Emulation Station

Apps and Emulators are both treated more like shortcuts than full game launches, so your native emulator apps and their button mappings don't get overwritten by Winhanced.

✦ Performance & Memory

  • Much smoother library scrolling. Every game tile used to re-render its entire card off-screen just to draw its shadow. Tiles now share a single shadow, so scrolling stays smooth
  • Specular highlight tiles are far lighter on the GPU. The glossy edge effect no longer spins up a separate GPU surface for every tile, it's created only when actually needed, so leaving the effect on no longer costs you frames while scrolling
  • Box art no longer re-decodes when you scroll back. Artwork you've already seen is cached to fit the whole library, so re-scrolling is instant instead of re-decoding each image
  • Lower input latency while navigating. Controller polling is now much faster (50 ms to 4 ms) for snappier menu movement
  • Fixed a freeze when scrolling quickly past animated game art. The app could lock up entirely while navigating fast through the library, it now stays responsive
  • Fixed a large memory leak from animated box art. Animated tiles were leaving graphics decoders behind on every Recent Games refresh, ballooning memory over repeated launch/close cycles. Memory now stays flat and returns to baseline

⬡ Game Launching & Sessions

  • More reliable game-exit detection. Fixed a bug where a game could be reported as "exited" a few seconds after launch, and stopped the app from double-counting a single close
  • Cleaner exit visuals. The game's splash artwork now stays visible through the exit animation, the window no longer flashes when restoring from fullscreen, and the shrink animation collapses the artwork, dim, and overlay together as one piece
  • Widget keeps tracking a still-running game. If you close one game while another is still open, the HUD widget now stays pointed at the game that's still running instead of going blank
  • Suspend Game no longer freezes Steam or launchers. Suspending a quick-resume game could accidentally freeze Steam, other launchers, or OS processes. Added guards so only the actual game is suspended

⬡ Graphics, Smart Profiles & Stability

Graphics

  • Fixed frame-rate capping on Intel devices. Frame limiting now works correctly on Intel GPUs

Smart Profiles

  • Fixed a sign-in / auth path issue
  • Removed the Smart Profiles pop-up dialogs from the game launch flow so launching is cleaner
  • Fixed a bug that could prevent saving a Smart Profiles deactivation

App Startup

  • Fixed a bug that was preventing Winhanced from launching at startup in desktop mode. Added helper text, and when Winhanced is set as your Xbox home app we now disable the startup option so the two can't compete and cause double launches

Stability & Shutdown

  • Hardened closing the app during startup. Quitting while the app was still loading (library sync, friends, image caching) could crash the shutdown sequence and leave orphaned or zombie processes behind. Background loaders can no longer take down the teardown
0.9.8.6 Previous June 7, 2026

✦ New for Early Access

RGB Lighting Control with Per-Game Profiles

Control your controller's RGB lighting directly from the general settings page, with full per-game profile support.

  • MSI Claw: Off, Steady, Breath, Color Cycle, and Wave effects with per-zone color customization (sticks and ABXY buttons) and adjustable speed. Lighting persists in-game and re-applies automatically on reconnect
  • ROG Ally / Ally X: Off, Static, Match Theme (follows your app accent color), Breath, Color Cycle, and Wave with custom colors, speed, and direction
  • Lighting layouts let you save named setups or assign them per game. Lighting switches automatically when a game launches and restores when it exits

Back Paddle and OEM Button Remapping fleshed out further (MSI and ASUS)

Remap your handheld's back paddles and front OEM buttons directly in Winhanced.

Buttons can be mapped to:

  • Controller buttons (back paddles): A, B, X, Y, LB, RB, LT, RT
  • App actions: Open Game Bar, Task Switcher, Navigate to Library, Virtual Keyboard (toggle on-screen keyboard)
  • Shortcuts: Steam Overlay (Shift+Tab), OptiScaler (Insert), Switch Window (Alt+Tab), Show Desktop (Win+D), Close Window (Alt+F4), Copy (Ctrl+C), Paste (Ctrl+V), Undo (Ctrl+Z), Enter, Esc
  • Or leave a button unbound entirely

Per-device support:

  • ROG Ally / Ally X: Full support. Back paddles (M1/M2) map to controller buttons, app actions, or shortcuts, Command Center and Armoury Crate front buttons map to app actions and shortcuts
  • MSI Claw: Back paddles (M1/M2) map to controller buttons only. The Claw's paddle firmware has no keyboard path, so keyboard actions and shortcuts aren't available on paddles. MSI Center and Quick Settings front buttons map to app actions and shortcuts
  • Legion Go (Gen 1): Working. All five grip paddles (Y1-Y3, M2, M3) map to controller buttons, and Legion L/R front buttons map to app actions and shortcuts. Important: unbind your paddles in Legion Space first, or the mappings will conflict
  • Legion Go 2: In progress. The Go 2's firmware behaves differently from the Gen 1, and this build includes diagnostic logging to help us figure it out. If you have a Legion Go 2 and early access, your logs can directly help us finish this. Reach out

✦ New for Everyone

Controller and Input

  • Prefer External Controller: a new HUD toggle that disables the built-in gamepad whenever an external controller is connected (ROG Ally and MSI Claw). The built-in controller re-enables automatically if your external pad disconnects, and the preference persists across restarts
  • Further enhanced Sleep wake logic for better reliability and stability

Performance

  • AutoPilot Dynamic TDP v5.3: fixed AutoPilot engaging in auto mode when a target FPS was set, fixed urgent power raises not triggering at lower FPS targets, and added Radeon Chill support
  • Added Intel GPU support with improved AutoPilot behavior

Startup

  • Cold-boot launch is dramatically faster. Sign-in now appears in under a second and the app is ready in about 5 seconds, down from up to 28 seconds of dead air previously
  • Fixed Armoury Crate services failing to initialize correctly after a fast boot

⬡ Other Fixes

  • Fixed Steam sign-in being lost on first launch after onboarding
  • Fixed the pinned filter row not showing controller focus on first page load
  • Fixed an issue where download guard was permanently setting the power button to do nothing and corrupting the Winhanced sleep power plan
0.9.8.4 Previous June 2, 2026

✦ For Everyone

FSE Certificate Fix

  • Fixed the certificate issue that was breaking FSE mode for both the app and the widget. Heads up: you'll need to delete Winhanced HUD before installing this one for the fix to take

AutoPilot Tuning

  • Some AutoPilot tunings rolled out for AMD and Intel devices

✦ Early Access

Back Paddle Support (Experimental)

  • Since I was already in there, we're shipping back paddle support into Early Access as an experimental feature. Currently confirmed working on MSI Claw and Asus Ally X

⬡ Bug Fixes

  • Fixed Baldur's Gate 3 not launching
0.9.8.2 Previous May 31, 2026

✦ For Everyone

MSI Claw: Native TDP & Driver Control

  • Full TDP control across the entire MSI Claw lineup, no MSI Center required. Winhanced auto-disables MSI's background services on launch and flips them back on when you close the app, so nothing's fighting over the hardware while you play
  • Native driver control covering every driver MSI ships on its support site. The Claw is now a first-class supported device end to end

PC Streaming

  • Moonlight now works better with Winhanced, with automatic game adding to Sunshine, Wake-on-LAN, and seamless controller handoff

Performance

  • HDR on launch: automatically enable HDR when a game starts and turn it back off on exit. (Note: the feature is built but won't be usable until a HUD update ships)
  • Remap-OEM and Winhanced-TDP toggles are now linked and visually grouped so they stay in sync
  • AutoPilot improvements for more reliable power-profile switching

Library

  • Faster, smoother library scrolling and lower memory use, even with large collections

✦ Early Access

SteamGridDB Artwork Browser

  • Browse and apply custom game artwork directly in-app

⬡ Bug Fixes

MSI Claw

  • Fixed OEM buttons double-toggling Game Bar, added button debouncing
  • Stopped the Xbox app and the MSI Quick Settings widget from auto-launching at boot

Streaming

  • Repaired Steam/Epic/GOG launching through Sunshine after a Sunshine server update

Library & Navigation

  • Fixed controller focus and direct-launch on Apps/Emulators tiles
  • Corrected controller analog-stick navigation and home-screen focus when resuming
  • Fixed the settings side panel getting clipped when navigating in with the bumpers

Performance / AutoPilot

  • Fixed AutoPilot not always triggering a Windows power-profile change
  • Fixed game-exit not always restoring your normal profile
  • Smart Profiles now works for games with a missing or zero game ID

Other

  • "What's New" now pins an app-update card at the top when an update is available
0.9.7.9 Previous May 26, 2026

✦ For Everyone

App Updates Live on What's New

  • When a Winhanced update is available, it now shows up as the very first card on What's New, same spot as game news and articles
  • Click through and you land in a full patch-notes view with the changelog, the hero banner, and an Install Update button sitting right there above the fold

New Themes for Patreon & Discord Supporters

  • The theme section in Settings picked up some polish. 7 background variants to choose from now, focus rings tint themselves to match whatever accent color you've picked, and you get a live preview as you flip through

⬡ Critical ASUS Fan Curve Fix

  • Fan curve application now actually sends the curve correctly when switching modes. There was a path where it'd quietly drop the curve and leave you on the previous profile's behavior
  • Fan control is now wired into the power profile system, so your fan behavior follows your active profile instead of needing to be set separately

⬡ Stability & Fixes

  • Last patch accidentally shipped some in-progress code that was suppressing Armoury Crate for Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X users. Resolved
  • Fixed a bug that was causing certain Steam games to not show in library regardless of install status
  • Exiting the Settings page no longer dumps you partway down the previous page. This was happening on cached-page re-entry, ported the reverse-transition structure from the Library page (which doesn't have this bug) to kill the scroll-bounce for good
0.9.7.8 Previous May 25, 2026

✦ For Everyone

This one's themed around performance and predictability. Across the board, games, AutoPilot, Lossless Scaling, Steam downloads, things should just feel faster, smoother, and less janky than they did a week ago.

AutoPilot Dynamic TDP v5

  • The headliner. Dynamic TDP got another pass on the platform side and it's noticeably smarter, better target tracking, fewer "wait why is it doing that" moments, and it plays nicer with everything else AutoPilot is juggling

The App Stays Snappy, Session After Session

  • Hard to demo but you'll feel it. There was a slow drip of resources getting left behind every time you launched and exited a game. Stack enough sessions on top of each other and the app would start feeling sluggish, menus would get laggy, things would just... not be right
  • Big cleanup pass across the entire game lifecycle, leaks plugged. If you tend to do long marathon sessions and you've noticed the app getting tired toward the end, you should notice the difference immediately
  • Note: there are still some leaks on the platform side that we're actively plugging up as well, so slowdowns can still occur, BUT it's better, and the goal is to have this completely resolved by next patch

Steam Direct-Mode Downloads & Updates

  • If you've been downloading or updating Steam games inside Winhanced and things felt slow or didn't work, this one's for you
  • Updates now apply in place properly, cancelling a download mid-way won't leave your install in a weird half-broken state, and download speed has been improved

Lossless Scaling: Finally Behaves Itself

  • LS now properly turns on and off with the game you're playing, and auto-restores when your game launches if you have it saved to on in the game's profile
  • Much better at handing off the proper window to Lossless Scaling, so it turns on more consistently
  • Added the HDR toggle to the Winhanced HUD so that Lossless Scaling setting is togglable from inside Winhanced too

New Devices in the Family

  • OneXFly Apex, F1, and F1 Pro are now detectable by Winhanced

⬡ Stability & Fixes

AutoPilot

  • Setting your target FPS to 120 or 144 was silently stopping AutoPilot from re-engaging auto-target mode. Fixed
  • AutoPilot now correctly takes over the per-game FPS limit when it's active, instead of the two fighting each other
  • AutoPilot was applying the wrong fan curve on ASUS devices. Fixed

Smart Profiles Publishing

  • Now checks that your account is in good standing before posting
  • Way better feedback when something goes wrong
  • A missing field that was quietly tanking AutoPilot Ratings is back where it belongs

Quality of Life

  • "What's New" filter toggles now actually remember what you set them to between launches
0.9.7.6 Previous May 21, 2026

✦ For Everyone

Legion Go 2: Officially Supported

  • Legion Go 2 is now on the official supported devices list, with the L button mapped to open the Game Bar and full TDP support across the correct power ranges for the device's silicon
  • Huge thank you to the Legion Go 2 owners in our Discord who worked with us all week to make this happen

Overhauled Dynamic TDP

  • Dynamic TDP got a full rework. In-game performance is sharper and more consistent across sustained sessions
  • CPU temperatures are now read through the new PawnIO driver, which auto-installs silently on first launch after this update
  • PawnIO is additive to the existing performance stack for now. We'll be migrating more of the stack onto it over the next few patches

In-App Patch Notes

  • Read patch notes and news articles directly inside Winhanced without leaving the launcher
  • Long articles scroll with the right stick once you're in the article view

⬡ Stability & Fixes

  • Game launching, playing, and exiting is more reliable end-to-end. Quirks from earlier 0.9.6.x builds across Steam, Epic, and Game Pass launcher chains have been smoothed out
  • Overall gaming performance improved alongside the Dynamic TDP rework
  • Fixes for a handful of remaining stability quirks reported in the last cycle
0.9.6.9 Previous May 18, 2026

✦ For Everyone

PlayStation Library: Direct Import & Console Launch

  • PlayStation library support graduates from Early Access. Sign in with your PSN credentials and Winhanced pulls your full library into a dedicated section, the same way Steam, Xbox, Epic, and GOG already do
  • This is separate from the existing PlayStation Remote Play tile, it's a real library
  • You can't install or run PlayStation games locally, but the library isn't just box art either. Open the details panel for any game installed on your PS5 and hit Play. Winhanced wakes the console over the internet, launches the title, then opens a Remote Play session via Chiaki
  • Note: requires Chiaki installed and configured on your handheld. Setup walkthrough lives at Settings → Libraries → PlayStation

Specular Highlights Toggle

  • New toggle under Settings → General to disable the recently added specular highlight effect
  • Highlights only render while the launcher is foregrounded (paused in-game and when alt-tabbed), but the toggle is there for users running tight battery budgets

Controller Navigation Polish

  • Friends Hub and Settings got a focus-order pass for smoother, more consistent controller traversal
  • The right panel of every Settings menu now scrolls with the right stick

✦ Early Access

Apps Library

  • Scan and add any installed app, including Progressive Web Apps, to a new dedicated App Library that sits separately from the Other Library
  • Head to Settings → Libraries → Apps and pick "Scan apps". The dialog mirrors the manual games library: search for and check any app you want launchable from Winhanced
  • The App Library tab only appears once you've added at least one app

Emulator Library

  • Winhanced now natively detects and auto-imports from a list of 108 emulators on first scan
  • Settings → Libraries → Emulators lists everything Winhanced picked up, with a manual scanner for anything that didn't make it into the auto-detect list (same dialog as the App scanner)
  • Note: Winhanced does not import or display ROMs the way an emulator frontend would. It launches the emulator (or your existing frontend like Emulation Station) directly
  • Apps and Emulators are both treated as shortcuts rather than full game launches, so your native emulator apps and their button mappings stay untouched by Winhanced

⬡ Still On the List

  • This is a feature patch. The pending Legion Go 2 fixes and the Xbox Ally X device-misidentification reports are still in progress, expect updates on both fronts in the next build
0.9.5.5 Previous May 4, 2026

✦ For Everyone

Redesigned First-Run Onboarder

  • The first-run setup got a full visual rewrite. Five focused steps: Welcome, Device, Libraries, Customize, Done
  • New dynamic backdrop tinted by your Windows accent color, real device renders for every supported device, and controller-driven navigation throughout
  • Per-step micro-interactions make first-run setup feel smoother and more seamless

System Accent Theme & In-App Color Picker

  • Backdrop and accent highlights retint live to match your Windows accent color
  • The Customize step in the onboarder and Settings → General both include a 48-color picker that overrides just within Winhanced
  • Pick a color and the entire UI follows, generating a dynamic 3-color theme backdrop based on your selection

Adaptive Display Scaling

  • Big rewrite under the hood. The launcher now scales as a single canvas with one root transform instead of compensating per-element
  • UI fills any aspect ratio (16:9, 16:10, 21:9 ultrawide) without letterboxing or weird text sizing bugs
  • Game details panel respects the footer and sizes canvas-relative
  • Seven of the widest dialogs (game options, batch import, Steam QR, etc.) got proper width caps so they never stretch off-screen

Per-Game Executable Path & Launch Arguments

  • Game Options on any tile now exposes two new fields: an Executable Path override and Custom Launch Arguments
  • Point a game at a modded .exe, alt build, or custom launcher, with per-game command line support
  • Hidden for Xbox UWP titles where the package family drives launch
  • Steam shows a heads-up if your override would break overlay injection

✦ Early Access

Friends Hub

  • Live presence from Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Discord shows who's online, what they're playing, and whether you own the same game (the new "Ready to Play" tile)
  • Friend Details panel surfaces Games in Common
  • Party invites are wired through the Discord Social SDK with native invite cards
  • Voice-call foundations are in place, with full controller navigation throughout
  • Discord Rich Presence broadcasts "Playing X via Winhanced" the moment a game launches, independent of Friends Hub itself
  • Note: non-Early-Access users will still see the existing Discord tab in the same slot. The Friends tab swaps in live the moment your entitlement updates, no app restart required

⬡ Bug Fixes

Library

  • Steam was re-downloading entire language packs (~24 GB on multi-language titles) every update. Depot enumeration now filters by your selected language to match the Steam client's actual behavior
  • PlayStation token refresh occasionally lost the AccountId field. Refresh path now heals missing account info by re-querying after token exchange
  • Game Pass catalog now flags entries that require Battle.net / Ubisoft Connect / EA / Riot / HoYoverse with an "Unsupported" badge, so the install button gates correctly instead of failing silently. Steam, native Xbox, and standalone Game Pass titles are unaffected

Performance

  • App hanging on game exit. New 15-second exit-grace period in the game monitor clears the stuck "Exiting game…" state if the launcher chain never reports a final exit
  • Game detection now latches onto titles that launch through nested launchers (Ubisoft Connect, EAC bootstrap, Steam to EA Desktop chains)
  • Game-exit dedup was holding stale events across session rotations and suppressing legitimate new exits. Now time-bound and cleared on session change
0.9.5.0 Previous April 17, 2026

✦ New Features

GOG Library Support

  • After debuting in Early Access with 0.9.4, GOG support is now available to all users
  • Sign in from the onboarder's Connect Your Libraries screen, browse your owned catalog, and direct-install DRM-free titles, no GOG Galaxy required
  • Cloud saves sync on launch and upload on exit
  • DRM-free dependencies like DOSBox and ScummVM are handled automatically

Game Pass Catalog Browsing & Direct Install

  • After debuting in Early Access with 0.9.4, the full Game Pass PC library is now open to everyone
  • Browse ~540 titles, filter by category, and install or stream in one click with full controller navigation throughout
  • Note: Ubisoft Connect and EA Play titles through Game Pass will let you download but won't launch cleanly yet, they need more integration work. Steam, native Xbox, and standalone Game Pass titles are unaffected. Hopefully we'll have a solution for Ubi/EA in the next patch

⬡ Improvements & Fixes

Library

  • Fixed an issue where non-early-access users could see GOG entries sneak into their library
  • Game Pass catalog pivot is now preserved when closing the game details panel

Performance

  • TDP: ZDDeviceManager facade is now wired early so PerformanceManager captures the real device. Fixes TDP control on affected configs
  • RTSS: overlay and helper processes are now filtered from smart-hook candidates

UI

  • Fixed Pro Tips text clipping on the onboarder's final screen
0.9.4.0 Previous April 1, 2026

✦ New Features

Native xCloud Streaming

  • Stream Xbox Cloud Gaming titles directly inside Winhanced, no browser required
  • Direct launch URLs resolved automatically for instant game entry
  • One-time authentication on first use, full controller support throughout

Lossless Scaling: Now Public

  • Toggle LS and adjust settings directly from the Winhanced HUD
  • Controls appear automatically for users who own Lossless Scaling on Steam

Instant Library Load

  • Library loading rebuilt from the ground up. All games appear at once

⬡ Bug Fixes

  • Fixed OEM button remapping resetting after sleep on Modern Standby devices including Legion Go
  • Fixed Steam direct mode depot access errors affecting titles such as Hades II
  • Fixed Xbox Mode bridge and widget home button not functioning correctly
  • Fixed duplicate Xbox game entries for Play Anywhere titles and demo/trial editions
  • Fixed HowLongToBeat integration following an API endpoint change
  • Fixed code signing to eliminate Windows Defender warnings on Lenovo and other OEM devices
  • Resolved multiple memory leaks and improved general stability
0.9.3.6 Previous March 23, 2026

✦ New Features

FSE Home App Registration

  • Winhanced now appears in Windows Settings → Gaming → Full Screen Experience
  • Fully replaces the Xbox app as the FSE home. Registered automatically on first launch after update

Direct Library Management

  • Steam, Xbox, and Epic Games all support direct install management from within Winhanced
  • Install up to 4 games simultaneously, with the rest queuing automatically

Suspend Game Button

  • New button under Game Options in the HUD. Suspend the current game and return to home instantly

GOG.com: Full Integration (Early Access)

  • Browse, download, install, launch, and uninstall GOG titles without opening GOG Galaxy
0.9.2.1 Previous January 24, 2026

✦ New Features

AutoPilot: Smart Profiles

  • Auto, Performance, and Quality modes. Intelligently balances performance and visual fidelity
  • Games with Smart Profile support display the "SP" badge in your library

Quick Resume

  • Run multiple games simultaneously with intelligent suspension and instant switching
  • Smart RAM management ensures system stability during suspension

The Status Pill

  • Dynamic hub replacing legacy power/minimize icons. Active sessions, universal search, system controls
  • Per-app volume mixer, battery monitor with usage graphs, Bluetooth and WiFi management

External Game Detection

  • Session tracking and Quick Resume work even when games are launched from Steam, Xbox, or Epic directly

⬡ Bug Fixes

  • Fixed game freezing when system enters sleep mode
  • Fixed memory leaks during alt-tabbing. Artwork and images now release correctly
  • Fixed crash on rapid Back button presses
  • Fixed incorrect game counts when switching library filters
  • Fixed AutoPilot Dynamic stopping under certain conditions
  • Added Legion Go 2 detection with full TDP and power profile support
0.9.1.2 Previous December 24, 2025

✦ New Features

Animated Game Art

  • Animated backgrounds pulled from SteamGridDB for supported titles
  • Displayed behind the frosted glass layer. Independently toggleable

Winhanced Watchdog

  • Companion service that saves app state during crashes and recovers gracefully

Native TDP Management

  • Reversed Armoury Crate's TDP handling. Armoury Crate no longer required on ASUS devices

Sleep Engine 1.0

  • ML-based engine that logs sleep cycles, identifies bad wake sources, and learns your device's behavior over time

⬡ Bug Fixes

  • Fixed AutoPilot stopping after wake from sleep
  • AutoPilot battery mode now correctly ignores plugged-in state

FAQ

What is Winhanced?

Winhanced is a controller-first frontend that sits on top of Windows. It started as a project to fix Windows handhelds, but the same frontend works just as well on a gaming PC hooked to your TV or a desktop you'd rather drive from the couch. It pulls your libraries together (Steam, Xbox, Epic, GOG, PlayStation, Game Pass, xCloud, GeForce Now), rebuilds sleep and resume so closing the lid (or hitting standby) doesn't crash your game, and handles TDP and per-game profiles automatically. Windows stays Windows underneath. You just stop seeing the desktop.

Why Winhanced instead of Armoury Crate, Legion Space, Playnite, or Steam Big Picture?

Armoury Crate and Legion Space are great at the hardware they ship with, but they don't touch your library and they only work on one OEM's device. Playnite is fantastic for desktop power users, but it's built for mouse and keyboard and stops short of the deeper Windows fixes (sleep, FSE registration, native Game Bar HUD). Steam Big Picture only shows your Steam library and doesn't fix anything underneath Windows. Winhanced is the only app trying to handle every library, the sleep path, and the performance layer in one place, on any Windows device, controller-first.

Is early access safe to install?

Yes. Early Access builds are signed, scanned, and tested by us and a few hundred active Discord members before they ship to Patreon. They're not unstable, just newer. If something breaks, ping us in Discord. We read everything and most bugs get a fix in the next build.

Where do I get support if something goes wrong?

The Winhanced Discord. Both of us check in daily, and the community is genuinely helpful. When you post a bug, include your device model, your Winhanced build number, a one-line description of what you were doing, and a log file if you can grab one (Settings / About / Open Logs). That triages most issues on the first reply.

Is Winhanced open source?

Not yet. It's a two-person team funded through Patreon, and keeping the source closed lets us ship signed builds fast without spinning up a larger contributor process. We're not philosophically opposed, just not there yet. Supporters get Early Access and a direct line to roadmap decisions in the meantime.

Do you use AI in Winhanced?

As a tool, yes, and I want to be upfront about it. AI makes things like writing patch notes, reviewing dense app logs, putting together shareouts, drafting some content copy, and building this website easier, and that frees up time to actually build the product. But I have a strong personal stance on this from my day job as a product designer and developer: AI is a powerful tool that can help you, it should never be a crutch, and we never use it for image or art generation. Every piece of art and design you see in Winhanced is made by a person.