The Stream Deck Just Got A Killer Update

The Stream Deck just received a massive update

The Stream Deck 5.0 update brings several massive improvements to the control panel

I wrote earlier this year about how the Elgato Stream Deck was everything Apple’s (seemingly doomed) Touch Bar could have been. A new software update for the Stream Deck that has just landed on my Mac makes the Stream Deck even better. Much, much better in fact.

To recap, the Stream Deck is a device ostensibly aimed at streamers, allowing them to donk a button and play sounds, special effects or social media promos while they are streaming.

I’m not a streamer — I have a face for radio — but the Stream Deck can also be used as a controller for everyday applications, allowing you to replace keyboard shortcuts with customisable icons on the Stream Deck. Read my previous article if you want to better understand what it does.

The new update makes the Stream Deck much more useful for both streamers and us general-purpose button bashers, and here’s why.

Plugins

The Zoom plugin and its various commands

The Stream Deck software now supports plugins. These are basically a batch of preset commands for different applications or tasks.