Something that slipped through the cracks regarding yesterday’s SteamOS update is the fact that the update also includes KDE Connect. Basically, KDE Connect allows the user to interact between their smartphone/tablet and the computer. Files can be sent and received between each device. Media can be controlled remotely by the computer and vice versa, and SMS text messages can be sent with the computer. It’s a pretty neat and convenient app that allows you to do work on your computer (in this case, on the Deck) while being able to send tasks to your phone, without even touching it.

KDE Connect on Deck

On your phone, you’ll need to install the KDE Connect app on the Google Play Store (it’s also available on F-Droid if you prefer to install your apps that way).

KDE Connect on Android

Simply pair your phone with the Deck with KDE Connect, and accept the pairing request:

Pairing request KDE Connect

From there you will need to configure permissions on your phone, depending on what you want to share. Most will be disabled by default.

You can read and send text messages on Deck, although in my case it doesn’t seem to load the entire conversation; just the last message that was sent.

KDE Connect SMS

Thanks to Krafting from Mastodon for pointing this out to me.