One of Google’s greatest gifts to us is the Chromecast. Long before the concept of a smart home became popular, Google offered a the Chomecast. This device, a HDMI dongle, gives the ability to send video from a mobile device or Chrome browser to a television.
Setup from the Home App
To set up a Chomecast device for the first time – connect it to your television and power it on. Open up the Google Home app on your mobile device, select ‘Add’, and then ‘Set up device’. Choose the ‘Set up new device in your home’ option. Choose your home within the app, and select ‘Next’. At this point, the software will search for the device, and walk you through connecting it to your wireless network and assign it a name and a room within your home.
Casting Video
Almost every video app that can be installed on an Android phone has a Cast button.
After clicking this button, a menu will come up and ask you which device you’d like to play video or display your browser on.
You can cast from many different video apps, including Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, HBO GO, and more. You can also display photos, play music, and display Chrome browser pages.
Smart Home Integration
The development of smart home technology has made the Chromecast devices even more useful then before. Now, in addition to using a mobile device to play video, you can ask the Google Assistant to handle it for you.
For example, if you wanted to watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones from the HBO GO app on your family room display, you can say “Hey Google, play Game of Thrones from HBO GO on the family room display”. As long as there’s a Google Assistant-enabled speaker available to respond to the command, your requested content will be sent to your display without the need of a mobile device.
Do you own a Chomecast device? What has your experience been like? Reach out to me and let me know!
Schuyler
I am a husband, father, and tech enthusiast living in Saratoga County, New York. I have spent the past 10 years (and counting!) honing my technical skills traveling the United States as a technical specialist for a software company out of Albany, NY. In addition to that, I've spent the past two and a half years implementing affordable smart home solutions in my home.
