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Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

googledevelopers.blogspot.com

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Re: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

#191

Post by UnoriginalGuy »

Kudos wrote: post #181
UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Give the standard 2014, 2015 and let's see where we are. People said exactly the same thing about Miracast in 2013 and 2012. We still aren't anywhere with it. It is more broken than it is working, it is a giant mess. > The Chromecast comparison is really a bad one - yes you can tabcast You can fullscreen cast. > but really it is designed around a "send this URL to play" experience which is much much easier to accom…

> You can fullscreen cast. Since when? Source?

Basically since the Chromecast was released.

The Chromecast came out on July 24, 2013, and several dozen articles note the feature before the end of July (26-28th). Just click the little down arrow on the Chromecast button (part of the Chromecast extension) then "Cast entire screen (experimental)."

July 26th, 2013: http://www.droid-life.com/2013/07/26/tip-chromecast-can-cast...

July 26th, 2013: http://www.androidauthority.com/chromecast-share-entire-desk...

July 27th, 2013: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2380302

July 26th, 2013: http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1j3sd1/chromecast_c...

Re: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

#192

Post by UnoriginalGuy »

lsaferite wrote: post #180
UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Give the standard 2014, 2015 and let's see where we are. People said exactly the same thing about Miracast in 2013 and 2012. We still aren't anywhere with it. It is more broken than it is working, it is a giant mess. > The Chromecast comparison is really a bad one - yes you can tabcast You can fullscreen cast. > but really it is designed around a "send this URL to play" experience which is much much easier to accom…

> "only have a single sink device" I'm sure the OP was referring to source (sender) and sink (receiver) devices. And more specifically that the only current sink device is the Chromecast dongle.

That isn't accurate. The YouTube app on several TVs (e.g. Samsung) can receive Chromecast streams.

Re: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

#193

Post by virtue3 »

robflynn wrote: post #182
67726e wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got three Roku boxes in my house as well and I have to agree with all of your points. I got a Chromecast as a gift at Christmas and played with it but I really just don't see it as being better than the Roku with the exception of two fronts: 1. Price. It's just cheaper. About 40% the price of the latest Roku. 2. Development. Maybe this is a personal one for me. I keep wanting to work on a Roku Channel (app) but…

For what it's worth, BrightScript is pretty much just Visual Basic. It did take me a bit to get used to their various 'screens' and events.

also a brightscript/roku dev here. There's a nice code color plugin for sublime you can use and it's a bearable platform to develop on. Definitely use the console to just send the debug build up to the device and start debugging. It's really not that bad. Probably took me about a day to get used to it.

Honestly, as long as you stick within their control schemes you're fine. Trying to break out of the roku app controls leads to a total nightmare so be weary of that trap ;)

Re: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

#194

Post by talonstriker »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #6

I love my Chromecast and use it extensively. This is what Miracast should have been, something that "just worked" and seamlessly interconnected devices. But instead Miracast is yet another classic example of "death of committee" where tons of big media and hardware companies wanted to get their features and DRM in, and as a direct result we now have dozens of completely incompatible Miracast devices. I think this tab…

It's a lot easier for things to "just work" when one company controls the entire stack.

That being said, as others have pointed out, ChromeCast and Miracast solve different problems. One is something more of a Wireless DLNA solution while the other is real-time streaming.

Re: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

#195

Post by Untit1ed »

timothya wrote: post #131
bane wrote: post #130

Seriously, this is about bloody time. I cannot believe how long we've had to wait for the public SDK to get released. It's like going to a meal at a restaurant and every member of your party is served 2 or 3 hours apart. Here's a video about the announcement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJItrPj7Ivk

It's interesting to me how entitled people feel to get a public SDK. Presumably there was a reason that Google chose to not release it until now; the usual reason is that Google doesn't want people building apps on unstable APIs, because that means a bad experience for both consumers and developers. I'm personally happy that they spent the time to actually make the SDK solid.

The problem is that a chosen few got help to put their apps on there and be first-to-market, while everyone else was left in the dark with no documentation and not even an expectation of when the SDK would be released. Up until today it supported a tiny subset of what it claimed - MPEG-DASH playback had to be done via dash.js, which can't even run smoothly on the device, SmoothStreaming playback was completely impossible unless you rolled a complete HTML5 player from scratch using MSE.

Meanwhile, the Netflix app isn't even a proper HTML5 app - it's literally flashed onto every device sold and opened via a command. The Hulu app's player is named "chromekey_player.js" so presumably they were able to start before the Chromecast was even called the Chromecast.

While Google are under no obligation to provide an even playing field, it wasn't a great start for the platform - hopefully things will be better now.

Re: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

#196

Post by upbeat_addict »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #192
lsaferite wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "only have a single sink device" I'm sure the OP was referring to source (sender) and sink (receiver) devices. And more specifically that the only current sink device is the Chromecast dongle.

That isn't accurate. The YouTube app on several TVs (e.g. Samsung) can receive Chromecast streams.

I've also noticed recently that I can cast to my PS3 from the Chromecast icon in the YouTube app, so long as the PS3 YouTube app is running. I see it alongside my chromecast as an option. Presumably, the PS3 Netflix app behaves the same way.

Re: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

#197

Post by ClayM »

Kiro wrote: post #138
mkuhn wrote: post #94

Plex ( https://plex.tv/ ) was the magic bullet that unlocked the potential of my Chromecast. I can only recommend it and am looking forward what other applications that come out now ill make it even more useful.

Does it work with subtitles?

Yes, but it takes a while to get set up right. I think this will make it work:

https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/90563-roku-not-playin...

Re: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

#198

Post by Untit1ed »

drcode wrote: post #45

Anyone know if the API is powerful enough to let you build an app that can project video and have it play synced audio via headphones connected to the controlling device? Being able to listen to the audio via remote headphones is a killer feature of the Roku 3 IMHO and I would love it if I could do this via my chromecast as well. (Yes, I am aware that the Chromecast typically plays buffered video from the video sourc…

That'd be easy enough even before the release of the SDK - open the video on the Chromecast, audio on the sender app, use the websocket connection between them to keep them in sync, Bob's your uncle.

Making it so that you only downloaded the video on the Chromecast and the audio on the sender app would be a little more difficult, but not insurmountable.

Re: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

#199

Post by Kudos »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #191
Kudos wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can fullscreen cast. Since when? Source?

Basically since the Chromecast was released. The Chromecast came out on July 24, 2013, and several dozen articles note the feature before the end of July (26-28th). Just click the little down arrow on the Chromecast button (part of the Chromecast extension) then "Cast entire screen (experimental)." July 26th, 2013: http://www.droid-life.com/2013/07/26/tip-chromecast-can-cast... July 26th, 2013: http://www.androidauth…

Oh my god, I can't believe I missed that...

Re: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

#200

Post by eggnet »

protopete wrote: post #135
Pxtl wrote: post #43

Chromecast is missing one thing, imho: a controller for my kids. I'm not giving my kids the Nexus 7 every time they want to watch something on the TV screen. The Chromecast suddenly goes from a $35 to a $235 device. Instead I have a uHost android-stick that uses an accelerometer-based airmouse... it's not good, but it works and cost me $50. I keep waiting for Google to complete the Nexus line with a bare-bones 4" low…

The Chromecast supports HDMI CEC in order to turn on the TV and switch inputs, so I don't understand why it doesn't support allowing the TV remote to control the Chromecast. Most TVs support CEC, and HDMI sources can request to be sent the TV remote button press events.

You couldn't control everything the chromecast can do with simple controls, such as selecting which content to play.

That said you could pause, rewind, fast forward, and unpause, I suppose. But you'd still need some other device to select content.

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