Chromecast was very useful back when it was just a wireless connector to the TV; when Google tried to integrate it into a larger service package it lost most of what made it useful to me. These...
Chromecast was very useful back when it was just a wireless connector to the TV; when Google tried to integrate it into a larger service package it lost most of what made it useful to me. These days I'm using my Steam Deck for the same purpose; slightly more complex to get to viewing something, but it means I can have script and ad blockers installed to streamline my viewing experience.
I have/had one of the earlier gen Chromcasts. I stopped using it a couple years ago since it unfortunately stopped working. Idk if it's because of issues with resolution (with a 4K TV) or what. I...
I have/had one of the earlier gen Chromcasts. I stopped using it a couple years ago since it unfortunately stopped working. Idk if it's because of issues with resolution (with a 4K TV) or what. I ended up buying a new Chromecast this past Christmas...and yeah, it's kinda a cluster.
If I wanted something like a Roku, I would've gotten a Roku (My TV is a RokuTV). All I wanted to do was stream YouTube from my browser so I could view sans ads, but if I'm remember correctly (barely used it, I was so annoyed), the new Chromecast would detect that I was using YouTube, and then switch to its native YT app. Which of course, plays ads. Sometimes, some sites, like Crunchyroll, just wouldn't cast to the TV and I couldn't understand why. And there isn't a built-in Crunchyroll app on the Chromecast.
Ended up pulling out an old Intel NUC and hooking that up to my TV. Yeah, I need a mouse and keyboard, but at least it works the way I want it to work.
The new Chromecast are just android TV boxes. Install SmartTube on them and disable the official app, and you've got ad free YouTube with sponsor block pre installed. I've used this setup for...
The new Chromecast are just android TV boxes. Install SmartTube on them and disable the official app, and you've got ad free YouTube with sponsor block pre installed. I've used this setup for years and it's probably the best way to watch YouTube.
My old Chromecast stopped working for me for a little while too until I realized that, for whatever reason, the device that I am casting from has to be on the same wireless ssid. I have a 2.4ghz...
My old Chromecast stopped working for me for a little while too until I realized that, for whatever reason, the device that I am casting from has to be on the same wireless ssid. I have a 2.4ghz and a 5ghz network in my home. I have some older devices that don't have 5ghz capabilities and my Chromecast is on the 5ghz network. Those devices can't cast to the Chromecast and I am pretty sure they could at one time. What's odd to me, is that I don't understand the requirement to be on the same ssid as the two ssids have the same networking config, both being on the 192.168.50.0/24 subnet.
Meh. It was a device that fulfilled one very (conceptually) simple requirement, and since then practically every TV on the market has implemented it's functionality in software. If anything, we...
Meh. It was a device that fulfilled one very (conceptually) simple requirement, and since then practically every TV on the market has implemented it's functionality in software. If anything, we should be glad that it's gone - it means that we don't need it anymore! And now we all have an extra HDMI port free. There aren't many people suffering from losing the ability to buy them.
I like my screens dumb, so this is actually a step backwards IMO. Having it as a separate device means being able to isolate the functionality, rather than needing to accept the all/none aspect...
I like my screens dumb, so this is actually a step backwards IMO. Having it as a separate device means being able to isolate the functionality, rather than needing to accept the all/none aspect for the smart TV manufacturer, which more or less assures that they also get all your watching data and not just Google.
On the plus side, maybe somebody will figure out how to hack the Chromecast Ultra since Google will hopefully no longer be sending out any updates that could break it. I've more or less already retired the use of all casting apps but if I could revive the chromecast in a more privacy-friendly and modifiable way that'd be awesome.
I'm with you on this one. TVs usually ship with plenty of HDMI ports, and HDMI switches are cheap. I'd much rather have my TV not bloated with garbage software and ads. I've been casually looking...
I'm with you on this one. TVs usually ship with plenty of HDMI ports, and HDMI switches are cheap. I'd much rather have my TV not bloated with garbage software and ads. I've been casually looking around for dumb TVs as my "Smart" TV gets more and more bloated with updates. Unfortunately dumb TVs seem to be a dying (dead?) breed. :/
maybe 15 years ago. Even back in ~2008 or so I had a 50" HDTV, albeit only 720p. Those that you can find tend to be much more expensive too. but for a smaller home I agree. for college my "TV" was...
maybe 15 years ago. Even back in ~2008 or so I had a 50" HDTV, albeit only 720p. Those that you can find tend to be much more expensive too.
but for a smaller home I agree. for college my "TV" was a 23" computer monitor for my laptop. And I could buy any variety of HDMI media sticks if I didn't want to connect my laptop.
The biggest problem is that they tend not to have remotes. I hook mine up to a stereo anyway, so I was able to use the stereo remote with an energy-saving surge strip that turns off all other...
The biggest problem is that they tend not to have remotes. I hook mine up to a stereo anyway, so I was able to use the stereo remote with an energy-saving surge strip that turns off all other devices when the main device isn't in use.
The magic phrase you may be looking for is "commercial displays/TV/monitors". They can still have software packages that do things, but they seem easier to ignore - more for content delivery than...
The magic phrase you may be looking for is "commercial displays/TV/monitors". They can still have software packages that do things, but they seem easier to ignore - more for content delivery than for ads or marketing.
Eh, I don't think I agree with you about HDMI ports. We bought a high end HDTV and it just barely has enough with four of them on it, and almost every other TV we bought before has had 1, 2, or 3....
Eh, I don't think I agree with you about HDMI ports. We bought a high end HDTV and it just barely has enough with four of them on it, and almost every other TV we bought before has had 1, 2, or 3. And HDMI switches are terrible. They barely work, if they work at all. I've bought probably three or four of them and I have thrown them all away. Even if you do find one that works well, HDMI is a moving target, so you'll have to replace the switch eventually if you want to have the latest capabilities.
Honestly, HDMI itself kind of sucks. If you have one HDMI device or cable that is acting up anywhere in your device chain, it could cause everything else to stop working correctly. I had to buy a special adaptor for my MiSTer because it stopped CEC from working on all of the devices on my TV.
They are very finicky, but I don't think I ever had a switch that simply didn't work at all. That was an acceptable caveat to not have to play musical HDMI ports with all my devices. I don't think...
And HDMI switches are terrible. They barely work, if they work at all.
They are very finicky, but I don't think I ever had a switch that simply didn't work at all. That was an acceptable caveat to not have to play musical HDMI ports with all my devices.
Honestly, HDMI itself kind of sucks.
I don't think the winning standard of anything is ever the highest quality competitor. Just a mix of marketing and price for parts. Would be nice if/when USB -C also takes over display as a standard, but that's still in its early stages
I think we probably just have really different use cases. I only really ever need a few open ports: One for media streaming (chromecast, plex, etc), and a couple for game consoles. A few years ago...
I think we probably just have really different use cases. I only really ever need a few open ports: One for media streaming (chromecast, plex, etc), and a couple for game consoles. A few years ago I had a TV that was one HDMI short and I bought this switch and it has outlived that TV. Totally possible that I just got lucky with that switch, though. I have been through half a dozen USB3 switches in the same time and I'm still searching for one that doesn't suck.
My use case isn't that much different. I have an AppleTV attached for media streaming and three game consoles - a PS5, a Switch, and my MiSTer. The one complication I have is a soundbar which is...
My use case isn't that much different. I have an AppleTV attached for media streaming and three game consoles - a PS5, a Switch, and my MiSTer. The one complication I have is a soundbar which is connected via HDMI (because that's apparantly just how things are done now), and the Switch is attached through a pass-through port on it.
The Switch sometimes doesn't work. It depends on the game, but sometimes there will be weird visual artifacts and at times the screen will blank entirely.
I also have a PC I use as a server that I don't use as a media PC simply because not enough HDMI ports. Sure, I could install Kodi on it but the AppleTV predates it and my husband will complain. Sometimes I unplug the Switch and use the cable on the PC for when something is wrong and I can't remote into it, and it always works, even though it's sending a much more complex high-resolution signal. Except for when it doesn't work. If it's plugged into the TV and I power it on without the TV set to that input, it will not boot. It will not even show the EFI splash screen. Why does it do this? Your guess is as good as mine.
I have many other problems with my setup, but thankfully HDMI is not one of them. Your situation sounds very challenging. :( This sounds wild. My soundbar is years old so maybe I dodged this...
I have many other problems with my setup, but thankfully HDMI is not one of them. Your situation sounds very challenging. :(
soundbar which is connected via HDMI
This sounds wild. My soundbar is years old so maybe I dodged this bullet. Mine uses optical cable and flips on automagically when it detects a signal. So far it has worked flawlessly.
If it's plugged into the TV and I power it on without the TV set to that input, it will not boot.
I've seen some similar behavior in my server PC. It requires inputs connected (KVM) to boot. I've seen options in the BIOS to not require this for some past PCs, but it seems to not be standard because my server doesn't have the setting in BIOS. 🤷♂️
I think I could also set up the soundbar with optical, but the thing with that is that it's an informal standard and there's supposedly no way to get it to do more than the original dolby 5.1...
I think I could also set up the soundbar with optical, but the thing with that is that it's an informal standard and there's supposedly no way to get it to do more than the original dolby 5.1 output. I want to be able to use Atmos. Realistically it probably won't make much difference - soundbars aren't really that great to begin with - but I am the type to pursue entirely hypothetical improvements in quality.
Fun fact, I was actually going to use an older computer I had for this server originally, but it had some bizzare management unit built into it since it was a refurbished workstation. I couldn't find any documentation for it and it prevented it from booting properly without manual intervention, which means it would have to be plugged in to a keyboard and monitor in order to get it to restart. So now my server has RGB lighting and an RTX 1080 Super. It actually works out pretty well for me because I do most of my gaming on my Steam Deck.
It actually works fine if it's not plugged in! And that's how it is most of the time. But this computer is also kind of a piece of shit. It mostly works fine, but there are occasional hiccups...
It actually works fine if it's not plugged in! And that's how it is most of the time.
But this computer is also kind of a piece of shit. It mostly works fine, but there are occasional hiccups where if there is a temporary power failure it will still fail to boot back up unless you turn off the power for a while, presumably until the capacitors discharge. The motherboard has a lot of small errata like this that has really soured me to MSI in general. The one that pisses me off the most is that it doesn't properly partition the IOMMU groups, so I can't divert my graphics card to a VM without also losing the ability for the host system to access important peripherals.
The biggest issue with tvs with apps and their own stores is that manufacturers abandoned these services or deprecate the support for older tvs. I have a pioneer viera, one of the last plasma TVs...
The biggest issue with tvs with apps and their own stores is that manufacturers abandoned these services or deprecate the support for older tvs. I have a pioneer viera, one of the last plasma TVs made. The picture is fantastic despite being a standard 1080p TV. There is a YouTube, Hulu, and Amazon app on it but none of them work any longer due to lack of support. Fortunately all those apps still have Chromecast capabilities.
Same here and was planning on replacing the getting-worse-by-the-day Roku TV I currently have with a dumb TV and a Chromecast as the Roku TV has gotten to the point that input lag makes it feel...
I like my screens dumb, so this is actually a step backwards IMO. Having it as a separate device means being able to isolate the functionality, rather than needing to accept the all/none aspect for the smart TV manufacturer, which more or less assures that they also get all your watching data and not just Google.
Same here and was planning on replacing the getting-worse-by-the-day Roku TV I currently have with a dumb TV and a Chromecast as the Roku TV has gotten to the point that input lag makes it feel like I'm playing a modern FPS on dial-up.
The last time I used chromecast capabilities with a TV with it, it just automatically switched to it, no intervention required and no extra layers to bother with. It was basically the exact same...
The last time I used chromecast capabilities with a TV with it, it just automatically switched to it, no intervention required and no extra layers to bother with. It was basically the exact same situation as with a hardware chromecast, except perhaps slightly easier.
Granted I don't know what they have changed in more recent years since I've largely divested from Google. There's a good chance I'm getting the experience confused with AirPlay.
Except the privacy aspect, which I understand. (and I'm pretty sure would be a moot point if the TV was never connected to any network anyway). I'm not sure why you would be concerned about TV...
Except the privacy aspect, which I understand. (and I'm pretty sure would be a moot point if the TV was never connected to any network anyway).
I'm not sure why you would be concerned about TV bloatware? It's easy to entirely ignore, it usually just adds some colourful buttons to your remote.
I've been using a jailbroken 4k Fire Stick with all my favourite apps on it for years across 3 TVs and I've never seen my TV's own OS unless I need to change a settting.
You have probably been lucky to find TVs where you can avoid the OS. I can't do anything, even switch inputs, on mine without using the crappy TV OS/menu system. It also "updates" from time to...
You have probably been lucky to find TVs where you can avoid the OS. I can't do anything, even switch inputs, on mine without using the crappy TV OS/menu system. It also "updates" from time to time, which seems to mean that it downloads more ads to show me and further overload the already taxed processor. I know some of this might be able to be mitigated using something to block ads like a pihole or something, but the point is I shouldn't need to.
Oh boy, that does sound gross, I'm sorry to hear! Yeah that's not my experience at all even with new TV's. Though I do admit I haven't had a lot of exposure to a wide range or anything, we've...
Oh boy, that does sound gross, I'm sorry to hear! Yeah that's not my experience at all even with new TV's. Though I do admit I haven't had a lot of exposure to a wide range or anything, we've always just bought a cheap model from a good brand and it's been fine.
TBF, my real problems have only really been with my newest TV. Previously I bought Westinghouse TVs and they have been absolutely great. But my last Westinghouse was damaged in my recent move and...
TBF, my real problems have only really been with my newest TV. Previously I bought Westinghouse TVs and they have been absolutely great. But my last Westinghouse was damaged in my recent move and I had to make a quick decision. I ended up with a different cheap brand that had a FireTV baked in... won't be doing that again.
I have an original type of Chromecast on my Samsung TV. 99% of the time, it's just a Google-driven background generator for the TV between the time when we turn it on and when we open one of its...
I have an original type of Chromecast on my Samsung TV. 99% of the time, it's just a Google-driven background generator for the TV between the time when we turn it on and when we open one of its native apps.
But every once in a great while, I come across a service that has an android app that I can cast from my phone but doesn't have a native Samsung app. (F1-TV comes to mind.) It's handy for that. My only disappointment is that it's only 1080 – it would be nice if it supported 4K.
The original, first-gen Chromecast does everything I need, which is to play YouTube and movies purchased from various online services on the big screen, after choosing what to watch on my phone....
The original, first-gen Chromecast does everything I need, which is to play YouTube and movies purchased from various online services on the big screen, after choosing what to watch on my phone.
One limitation that i had forgotten about is that it only supports one WiFi network at a time. I recently brought my Chromecast to a different house to use on a different network. To do that, you have to do a factory reset. Furthermore, Google Home doesn't seem to support setting it up anymore. Instead, there's another Android app with a generic name: "Device Utility." It guides you through the setup, which involves disconnecting from WiFi, connecting to the Chromecast's own WiFi network, and then entering the WiFi password for your actual WiFi network.
It got stuck connecting to the Chromecast for some reason, so I had to try it twice. The "Device Utility" app has a bunch of one-star reviews from people who failed to get it to work.
Other than that, it's always worked fine, but we never moved it, so we never had to change networks.
The best thing is that the Chromecast itself doesn't have any accounts associated with it and no ads, unlike most smart TV setups. I bought my brother the most recent "Chromecast with Google TV" and it's basically a stripped down Android that implements a smart TV in a box, with preinstalled apps (that I had to delete) and ads that you can't remove. It was quite a letdown.
People are recommending the Onn streamer, which you can get for less than $20 from Walmart, but I can't tell if it's more like original Chromecast or yet another smart TV in a box.
Should probably start planning now. I've recently discovered the joys of MPD, particularly controlling via Home Assistant, but that requires an offline music library.
Should probably start planning now. I've recently discovered the joys of MPD, particularly controlling via Home Assistant, but that requires an offline music library.
I had a chromecast audio - got it when it first came out. I still use it today - such a great little piece of tech that let me easily send audio t my receiver - I never had any lag or much in the...
I had a chromecast audio - got it when it first came out. I still use it today - such a great little piece of tech that let me easily send audio t my receiver - I never had any lag or much in the way of issues.
Lately though, every now and then the ability to adjust volume or change tracks has started falling out of sync - I go to adjust the volume or change track, and the volume level indicator changes or the new track shows on the phone, but it doesn't make its way to the chromecast. It's not gotten bad enough for me to find a new solution, but it seems I may have to eventually.
The article mentions "Google's wireless casting standard". Does anyone know where I could read more about this? It seems like something where the app maker has to provide the little button and...
The article mentions "Google's wireless casting standard". Does anyone know where I could read more about this? It seems like something where the app maker has to provide the little button and probably some API.
I'm trying to imagine how I could keep this functionality around when the software updates stop and something breaks.
Here is the official standard. https://developers.google.com/cast/ My understanding is that the protocol will be kept around as part of the new hardware, but Google has a record of cutting...
My understanding is that the protocol will be kept around as part of the new hardware, but Google has a record of cutting perfectly good functionality on a whim.
Chromecast was very useful back when it was just a wireless connector to the TV; when Google tried to integrate it into a larger service package it lost most of what made it useful to me. These days I'm using my Steam Deck for the same purpose; slightly more complex to get to viewing something, but it means I can have script and ad blockers installed to streamline my viewing experience.
I have/had one of the earlier gen Chromcasts. I stopped using it a couple years ago since it unfortunately stopped working. Idk if it's because of issues with resolution (with a 4K TV) or what. I ended up buying a new Chromecast this past Christmas...and yeah, it's kinda a cluster.
If I wanted something like a Roku, I would've gotten a Roku (My TV is a RokuTV). All I wanted to do was stream YouTube from my browser so I could view sans ads, but if I'm remember correctly (barely used it, I was so annoyed), the new Chromecast would detect that I was using YouTube, and then switch to its native YT app. Which of course, plays ads. Sometimes, some sites, like Crunchyroll, just wouldn't cast to the TV and I couldn't understand why. And there isn't a built-in Crunchyroll app on the Chromecast.
Ended up pulling out an old Intel NUC and hooking that up to my TV. Yeah, I need a mouse and keyboard, but at least it works the way I want it to work.
The new Chromecast are just android TV boxes. Install SmartTube on them and disable the official app, and you've got ad free YouTube with sponsor block pre installed. I've used this setup for years and it's probably the best way to watch YouTube.
Hell yeah, I'm definitely doing this! Thanks!
My old Chromecast stopped working for me for a little while too until I realized that, for whatever reason, the device that I am casting from has to be on the same wireless ssid. I have a 2.4ghz and a 5ghz network in my home. I have some older devices that don't have 5ghz capabilities and my Chromecast is on the 5ghz network. Those devices can't cast to the Chromecast and I am pretty sure they could at one time. What's odd to me, is that I don't understand the requirement to be on the same ssid as the two ssids have the same networking config, both being on the 192.168.50.0/24 subnet.
Meh. It was a device that fulfilled one very (conceptually) simple requirement, and since then practically every TV on the market has implemented it's functionality in software. If anything, we should be glad that it's gone - it means that we don't need it anymore! And now we all have an extra HDMI port free. There aren't many people suffering from losing the ability to buy them.
I like my screens dumb, so this is actually a step backwards IMO. Having it as a separate device means being able to isolate the functionality, rather than needing to accept the all/none aspect for the smart TV manufacturer, which more or less assures that they also get all your watching data and not just Google.
On the plus side, maybe somebody will figure out how to hack the Chromecast Ultra since Google will hopefully no longer be sending out any updates that could break it. I've more or less already retired the use of all casting apps but if I could revive the chromecast in a more privacy-friendly and modifiable way that'd be awesome.
I'm with you on this one. TVs usually ship with plenty of HDMI ports, and HDMI switches are cheap. I'd much rather have my TV not bloated with garbage software and ads. I've been casually looking around for dumb TVs as my "Smart" TV gets more and more bloated with updates. Unfortunately dumb TVs seem to be a dying (dead?) breed. :/
A large monitor these days is bigger than most TVs of ten years ago; it may be worth looking outside of what manufacturers are calling "televisions"?
maybe 15 years ago. Even back in ~2008 or so I had a 50" HDTV, albeit only 720p. Those that you can find tend to be much more expensive too.
but for a smaller home I agree. for college my "TV" was a 23" computer monitor for my laptop. And I could buy any variety of HDMI media sticks if I didn't want to connect my laptop.
The biggest problem is that they tend not to have remotes. I hook mine up to a stereo anyway, so I was able to use the stereo remote with an energy-saving surge strip that turns off all other devices when the main device isn't in use.
I'm sure you could find some 3rd party remote that hooks into your monitor's DDCCI.
Even monitors have started coming with operating systems and suites of apps. I have a Samsung g9 and it's basically a smart TV. It's annoying.
The magic phrase you may be looking for is "commercial displays/TV/monitors". They can still have software packages that do things, but they seem easier to ignore - more for content delivery than for ads or marketing.
Eh, I don't think I agree with you about HDMI ports. We bought a high end HDTV and it just barely has enough with four of them on it, and almost every other TV we bought before has had 1, 2, or 3. And HDMI switches are terrible. They barely work, if they work at all. I've bought probably three or four of them and I have thrown them all away. Even if you do find one that works well, HDMI is a moving target, so you'll have to replace the switch eventually if you want to have the latest capabilities.
Honestly, HDMI itself kind of sucks. If you have one HDMI device or cable that is acting up anywhere in your device chain, it could cause everything else to stop working correctly. I had to buy a special adaptor for my MiSTer because it stopped CEC from working on all of the devices on my TV.
They are very finicky, but I don't think I ever had a switch that simply didn't work at all. That was an acceptable caveat to not have to play musical HDMI ports with all my devices.
I don't think the winning standard of anything is ever the highest quality competitor. Just a mix of marketing and price for parts. Would be nice if/when USB -C also takes over display as a standard, but that's still in its early stages
I think we probably just have really different use cases. I only really ever need a few open ports: One for media streaming (chromecast, plex, etc), and a couple for game consoles. A few years ago I had a TV that was one HDMI short and I bought this switch and it has outlived that TV. Totally possible that I just got lucky with that switch, though. I have been through half a dozen USB3 switches in the same time and I'm still searching for one that doesn't suck.
My use case isn't that much different. I have an AppleTV attached for media streaming and three game consoles - a PS5, a Switch, and my MiSTer. The one complication I have is a soundbar which is connected via HDMI (because that's apparantly just how things are done now), and the Switch is attached through a pass-through port on it.
The Switch sometimes doesn't work. It depends on the game, but sometimes there will be weird visual artifacts and at times the screen will blank entirely.
I also have a PC I use as a server that I don't use as a media PC simply because not enough HDMI ports. Sure, I could install Kodi on it but the AppleTV predates it and my husband will complain. Sometimes I unplug the Switch and use the cable on the PC for when something is wrong and I can't remote into it, and it always works, even though it's sending a much more complex high-resolution signal. Except for when it doesn't work. If it's plugged into the TV and I power it on without the TV set to that input, it will not boot. It will not even show the EFI splash screen. Why does it do this? Your guess is as good as mine.
I have many other problems with my setup, but thankfully HDMI is not one of them. Your situation sounds very challenging. :(
This sounds wild. My soundbar is years old so maybe I dodged this bullet. Mine uses optical cable and flips on automagically when it detects a signal. So far it has worked flawlessly.
I've seen some similar behavior in my server PC. It requires inputs connected (KVM) to boot. I've seen options in the BIOS to not require this for some past PCs, but it seems to not be standard because my server doesn't have the setting in BIOS. 🤷♂️
I think I could also set up the soundbar with optical, but the thing with that is that it's an informal standard and there's supposedly no way to get it to do more than the original dolby 5.1 output. I want to be able to use Atmos. Realistically it probably won't make much difference - soundbars aren't really that great to begin with - but I am the type to pursue entirely hypothetical improvements in quality.
Fun fact, I was actually going to use an older computer I had for this server originally, but it had some bizzare management unit built into it since it was a refurbished workstation. I couldn't find any documentation for it and it prevented it from booting properly without manual intervention, which means it would have to be plugged in to a keyboard and monitor in order to get it to restart. So now my server has RGB lighting and an RTX 1080 Super. It actually works out pretty well for me because I do most of my gaming on my Steam Deck.
You and @Mendanbar might be interested in a dummy HDMI/Displayport. You can find a variety of types, and nicely sidestep this problem.
Cool! And it's pretty affordable too. Thanks for the link! :)
It actually works fine if it's not plugged in! And that's how it is most of the time.
But this computer is also kind of a piece of shit. It mostly works fine, but there are occasional hiccups where if there is a temporary power failure it will still fail to boot back up unless you turn off the power for a while, presumably until the capacitors discharge. The motherboard has a lot of small errata like this that has really soured me to MSI in general. The one that pisses me off the most is that it doesn't properly partition the IOMMU groups, so I can't divert my graphics card to a VM without also losing the ability for the host system to access important peripherals.
The biggest issue with tvs with apps and their own stores is that manufacturers abandoned these services or deprecate the support for older tvs. I have a pioneer viera, one of the last plasma TVs made. The picture is fantastic despite being a standard 1080p TV. There is a YouTube, Hulu, and Amazon app on it but none of them work any longer due to lack of support. Fortunately all those apps still have Chromecast capabilities.
Same here and was planning on replacing the getting-worse-by-the-day Roku TV I currently have with a dumb TV and a Chromecast as the Roku TV has gotten to the point that input lag makes it feel like I'm playing a modern FPS on dial-up.
I'd certainly also buy a dumb TV, but I haven't been able to find any, at least new for sale... What models of TV have you been using?
The last time I used chromecast capabilities with a TV with it, it just automatically switched to it, no intervention required and no extra layers to bother with. It was basically the exact same situation as with a hardware chromecast, except perhaps slightly easier.
Granted I don't know what they have changed in more recent years since I've largely divested from Google. There's a good chance I'm getting the experience confused with AirPlay.
Except the privacy aspect, which I understand. (and I'm pretty sure would be a moot point if the TV was never connected to any network anyway).
I'm not sure why you would be concerned about TV bloatware? It's easy to entirely ignore, it usually just adds some colourful buttons to your remote.
I've been using a jailbroken 4k Fire Stick with all my favourite apps on it for years across 3 TVs and I've never seen my TV's own OS unless I need to change a settting.
You have probably been lucky to find TVs where you can avoid the OS. I can't do anything, even switch inputs, on mine without using the crappy TV OS/menu system. It also "updates" from time to time, which seems to mean that it downloads more ads to show me and further overload the already taxed processor. I know some of this might be able to be mitigated using something to block ads like a pihole or something, but the point is I shouldn't need to.
Oh boy, that does sound gross, I'm sorry to hear! Yeah that's not my experience at all even with new TV's. Though I do admit I haven't had a lot of exposure to a wide range or anything, we've always just bought a cheap model from a good brand and it's been fine.
TBF, my real problems have only really been with my newest TV. Previously I bought Westinghouse TVs and they have been absolutely great. But my last Westinghouse was damaged in my recent move and I had to make a quick decision. I ended up with a different cheap brand that had a FireTV baked in... won't be doing that again.
I have an original type of Chromecast on my Samsung TV. 99% of the time, it's just a Google-driven background generator for the TV between the time when we turn it on and when we open one of its native apps.
But every once in a great while, I come across a service that has an android app that I can cast from my phone but doesn't have a native Samsung app. (F1-TV comes to mind.) It's handy for that. My only disappointment is that it's only 1080 – it would be nice if it supported 4K.
Chromecast Ultra is 4K if you can find one.
The original, first-gen Chromecast does everything I need, which is to play YouTube and movies purchased from various online services on the big screen, after choosing what to watch on my phone.
One limitation that i had forgotten about is that it only supports one WiFi network at a time. I recently brought my Chromecast to a different house to use on a different network. To do that, you have to do a factory reset. Furthermore, Google Home doesn't seem to support setting it up anymore. Instead, there's another Android app with a generic name: "Device Utility." It guides you through the setup, which involves disconnecting from WiFi, connecting to the Chromecast's own WiFi network, and then entering the WiFi password for your actual WiFi network.
It got stuck connecting to the Chromecast for some reason, so I had to try it twice. The "Device Utility" app has a bunch of one-star reviews from people who failed to get it to work.
Other than that, it's always worked fine, but we never moved it, so we never had to change networks.
The best thing is that the Chromecast itself doesn't have any accounts associated with it and no ads, unlike most smart TV setups. I bought my brother the most recent "Chromecast with Google TV" and it's basically a stripped down Android that implements a smart TV in a box, with preinstalled apps (that I had to delete) and ads that you can't remove. It was quite a letdown.
People are recommending the Onn streamer, which you can get for less than $20 from Walmart, but I can't tell if it's more like original Chromecast or yet another smart TV in a box.
I use it for home house audio. It plugs into my 6 zone receiver via HDMI to RCA. Will suck if it stops working
Should probably start planning now. I've recently discovered the joys of MPD, particularly controlling via Home Assistant, but that requires an offline music library.
There are a bunch of projects for hooking MPD up to various streaming and online music services, for what it's worth.
Good to know. I hadn't bothered to google, and I probably should have. Between that and pulse-audio server shenanigans there's a lot of options.
I still use my Chromecast, daily! I don't want another remote to keep track of and another device for them to track me on. Keep it all on the phone.
Same! We still use ours every day on the dumb TVs we've been holding onto. It will be a sad day when they stop working.
I had a chromecast audio - got it when it first came out. I still use it today - such a great little piece of tech that let me easily send audio t my receiver - I never had any lag or much in the way of issues.
Lately though, every now and then the ability to adjust volume or change tracks has started falling out of sync - I go to adjust the volume or change track, and the volume level indicator changes or the new track shows on the phone, but it doesn't make its way to the chromecast. It's not gotten bad enough for me to find a new solution, but it seems I may have to eventually.
The article mentions "Google's wireless casting standard". Does anyone know where I could read more about this? It seems like something where the app maker has to provide the little button and probably some API.
I'm trying to imagine how I could keep this functionality around when the software updates stop and something breaks.
Here is the official standard. https://developers.google.com/cast/
My understanding is that the protocol will be kept around as part of the new hardware, but Google has a record of cutting perfectly good functionality on a whim.
The best travel companion. Nothing comes close for hotel TVs, and I will use mine till it breaks.