Handheld Companion – Release Notes

0.29.3.0 Highlights

This release cycle focuses on restoring Intel power management, improving stability around sleep/resume and virtual controller handling, reducing memory footprint, expanding Library and Collection management, and adding proper DSU server controls.
Intel TDP and power profile support have been restored by detecting Windows Smart App Control and surfacing the issue directly in the Device page, allowing affected users to disable it when it blocks HC’s power manipulation features.
HC’s internal managers are now more configurable: the Performance, Library, and GPU managers can each be toggled independently, making it easier to run HC alongside other tools without overlapping responsibilities.
The Library page received a substantial update with Collections support, faster rendering, improved memory behavior, Microsoft Store scanning, and cleaner settings organization.
Virtual controller reliability has been improved across resume, connection, and power-cycling scenarios, including updates to ViGEmClient and better exception handling when reconnecting controllers after sleep or hibernation.

Added Smart App Control detection to help restore Intel TDP and power manipulation support.
Added independent toggles for the Performance, Library, and GPU managers.
Added ADLX 1.5 support with AFMF 2.1 support, while removing the previous heavy probe executable dependency.
Added Microsoft Store title scanning through the Library update flow.
Added Collection management in the Library, including create/delete support.
Added proper DSU server management in the Settings page for emulator motion input workflows.
Added HID back button support for GPD Win 5 firmware 1.11.
Added misaligned HID report detection for Legion Go.
Added proper ISpaceWatcher disposable handling.
Added a notification when PawnIO is not detected.

Reworked Library settings into a single dropdown button.
Improved Library item visibility and memory management.
Improved game rendering performance in the Library.
Added Collection support to the Library UI.
Updated the Library favorites glyph in list view.
Improved main window compatibility at 720p / 150% scaling, especially for Steam Deck-like layouts.
Improved navigation menu behavior on narrow screens.
Reworked navigation history and overall navigation when using mouse or touchscreen.
Improved gamepad navigation with better historical GoBack() behavior.
Fixed left-stick navigation on Desktop layout.
Mouse cursor and touch input now properly exit UI mode during gamepad interactions.
Migrated FramerateValue from profile to power profile.
Improved update manager display logic on the Settings page.
Added DSU server controls to the Settings page.

Restored Intel TDP and power profile behavior where Smart App Control was silently blocking HC.
Added GPD Win 5 HID back button support for firmware 1.11.
Fixed Legion Go default / hardware fan table behavior that could cause fan throttling at higher CPU temperatures.
Fixed Legion Go controller swap behavior.
Restored OEM2 key detection on MSI Claw A1M.
Fixed Steam Deck / Neptune controller detection by correcting the expected input report length.
Added detection for misaligned HID reports on Legion Go.

Updated ViGEmClient to improve virtual controller stability after sleep and hibernation.
Improved virtual controller resiliency during system resume with proper exception handling and UI alerts.
Improved device and controller manager startup sequencing so controllers should connect faster.
Improved async compatibility across performance and profile managers.
Improved object disposal logic to reduce memory usage.
Fixed a memory leak from LibreHardwarePlatform.
Improved Library rendering and memory containment.
Fixed rare startup timing where LogManager could initialize too late.

Fixed random application freezes on close while HC is running.
Fixed a deadlock when closing HC with QuickTools open.
Fixed a deadlock in process detection.
Fixed a rare infinite virtual-controller power-cycling loop.
Fixed the broken Connect when plugged setting on the Controller page.
Fixed snap-window logic from the QuickTools Applications page.
Fixed input shifting logic in the Layout Manager.
Fixed a regression in layout shift logic.
Fixed malformed string messages causing crashes in LogManager.
Fixed device capability and internal sensor reading issues.
Fixed virtual controller combobox values being incorrect at startup.
Fixed ProfileViewModel platform image rendering when the Platform manager was not ready yet.
Fixed Settings manager crashes on corrupted values.
Fixed several async ViewModel / manager handling issues.
Fixed abnormally low thumbnail quality.
Fixed the FPS limit control appearing empty in QuickTools.
Fixed Touchpad emulation on virtual DS4.
Fixed FPS Limit and AutoTDP behavior when Dynamic Refresh Rate is enabled.
Fixed occasional incorrect screen frequency readings.
Fixed two empty power profiles being created on startup.
Fixed an endless loop when creating a new profile and fetching artwork.
Fixed QuickDevice screen frequency not refreshing correctly.

Full Changelog: 0.28.6.10...0.29.3.0