ArkPixels 1.4: Find your next game and make your library your own
Play Next, customizable game tabs, Steam and RSS news, a dedicated Steam Center, and more tools to look after your collection. Here is a closer look at ArkPixels 1.4 and how its new features fit into everyday play.
A game library can tell you what you own. The more interesting questions come afterwards: what do you feel like playing tonight? Where did you leave that unfinished game? Which details do you want to see when you open it? And how do you keep everything organized as the collection grows?
ArkPixels 1.4 brings those questions closer together. This update introduces more ways to choose from your library, arrange your game pages, follow news and review the quality of your collection. It also makes it easier to move from browsing a game to starting a session.
Alongside the new additions, this article looks at the existing session and library tools they connect to, so you can see how the whole experience works.
Choose from your own collection with Play Next
Sometimes the hardest part of playing is deciding where to start. You might want to return to something familiar, make progress on an unfinished game or finally try one of the titles waiting in your backlog.
The new Play Next feature starts with the library of your active profile. Open it from the “What should I play?” card and choose a mode: Resume, Continue, Backlog, Finish, Quick or Surprise. These give you different starting points for finding a suggestion, instead of treating every game as the same kind of choice.
You can narrow the results by status and platform. When a suggestion feels right, open the game or use the available session action to start or resume playing. If it does not fit today, ask for another suggestion. You can also exclude a title, undo that choice and manage your exclusions later.
For example, you could focus on games already in progress on a preferred platform, then use Continue to look for your next session. On another day, switch to Backlog or Surprise to approach the same collection differently.
Play Next has its own role alongside the existing random picker and backlog notifications. The random picker is there for a spontaneous choice. Backlog notifications offer scheduled reminders. Play Next gives you an interactive way to choose using the mode and filters you select.
Put the game tabs you use most within reach
People open a game page for different reasons. You may want your personal notes and progress first, while someone else goes straight to sessions or Steam information.
In 1.4, customizable game tabs let you arrange that space around your habits. Open the customization control beside the tabs to reorder them, hide optional tabs and select the one that opens by default. Overview remains available, and a reset option brings back the default arrangement.
The benefit becomes clearer over time: the information you check regularly can be where you expect it, without arranging every visit around the original tab order.
Move from a game page into a session
The update also improves the connection between game details and session actions. Depending on the game's state, the quick action can help you start a timer, return to an active session or update your progress. An active timer brings pause and stop controls back into the game page.
These changes build on ArkPixels' session tools. You can start, pause, resume and stop a timer, or add a session manually afterwards if you played without recording it live. When needed, select the library copy and platform so the session belongs to the right part of your collection.
The full-screen timer provides a larger clock and elapsed-time display, with an optional background using game artwork. Clock presets, color options and up to three custom clock faces per profile let you adjust its appearance. A session timer widget keeps controls accessible from the Android home screen.
Session records remain separate from imported Steam playtime. You choose whether session time contributes to totals and statistics; recording a local session does not rewrite the time imported from Steam.
Follow Steam news and your own RSS sources
Version 1.4 expands the news experience with RSS sources, bringing another part of your gaming routine into ArkPixels.
You can browse a combined news view or focus on a particular source. Steam news and RSS feeds remain identifiable, making it easier to follow the games and publications you care about.
To add a publication, open Manage RSS sources, enter a name and its direct HTTPS feed address, then preview the feed before saving it. Use the RSS feed URL supplied by the publication, rather than its normal homepage address.
Optional RSS notifications let you receive grouped updates from enabled feeds and set quiet hours. Updates are checked periodically, so this is a way to keep up with new articles without expecting an immediate alert for every publication.
The news widgets bring Steam or RSS articles onto your Android home screen. Choose the available sources and appearance, then open an article when you want to read more.
Find profiles, games and friends in Steam Center
The new Steam Center gives saved Steam profiles, their games and friends a dedicated place in the app.
It is especially useful when you work with more than one saved profile: select the relevant one before moving into its games or synchronization tools. There is a clearer starting point for Steam-related activity, with the profile context kept visible as part of that workflow.
Steam remains optional. You can continue using ArkPixels for manually added PC and console games, physical copies and local session records without linking a Steam library.
Give a growing library some attention
A large collection can accumulate incomplete records and possible duplicates. Missing cover art may make a game harder to recognize; missing platforms or release details can leave filters and summaries less useful.
The Library control center helps you find and review those issues. It highlights missing metadata and possible duplicates, so you can inspect a record, open the game, review available repair options or compare entries before deciding what to keep or merge.
Where a suitable IGDB match is available, metadata tools can help fill gaps. The batch repair flow previews eligible records and fills missing fields without replacing existing values. Possible duplicates are handled separately, so a bulk metadata update does not silently decide which games should be merged.
Batch repairs require Pro or Family. You can also review individual issues and mark them as reviewed, giving you a way to work through the collection at your own pace.
The update includes more control over metadata changes and protection for details you have edited yourself. It is worth reviewing the available field update options when refreshing information, especially for a collection you have carefully customized.
Smaller changes around the main features
The release also includes refreshed widgets, an option to hide explicit content in discovery, an app-sharing action and bug fixes. The discovery preference controls what appears while browsing for games; it does not remove titles you already have in your library.
Existing tools such as Share story remain part of the experience. You can prepare an image using game artwork, choose the information to include and share it through Android when you want to show a game from your collection.
A first route through 1.4.0
Start with a library you already know. Open Play Next and try a mode that matches what you want to do today. When you find a game, put its most useful tabs first and begin a session. Afterwards, review the session and your progress.
Then try adding a favorite publication's RSS feed or reviewing a few items in the Library control center. You can adopt the parts of the update that fit your routine without reorganizing everything at once.
Play Next and session tracking are available on Free. Advanced batch tools and deeper statistics require Pro or Family; other limits and automation options depend on your plan.
For practical instructions, explore the How ArkPixels works page on our website. For the full feature comparison and current offers, visit the Plans page.