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Chromecast Rooted

forum.xda-developers.com

51–60 of 108 posts

Re: Chromecast Rooted

#51
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not stupid at all; that should be the first question anyone asks. As far as I know, the Chromecast doesn't allow for discovering & streaming files via DLNA/UPnP. That feature alone is worth the rooting even if I "lost"[1] Netflix & Youtube support. 1. "Lost" is relative for a device that cost $35. I could just... buy another one.

It doesn't directly, but for example I run plex on my network and I can stream all of my local files to the chromecast with the plex iOS app.

Which is still absurd. There is absolutely no reason this function shouldn't be built into the Chromecast.

Re: Chromecast Rooted

#52

Anyone having a Chromecast and able to tell me what I'm missing? Currently I've got xbmc running on a Raspberry Pi. Connected via HDMI, online via wifi and I can stream more or less everything (videos, images, music) from my phone to that thing - not sure if there's a decent way to do that from my laptop running Linux. What are Chromecasts used for? Should I buy one?

The real "feature" of the Chromecast isn't technical. It's the ecosystem and particularly the fact it "just works" and is built in and enabled by default on a large number of Android apps. So for example, my friend can come over to my house and fire up his Google Music and his phone automatically sees my Chromecast and he can play to it. Or movies, or photos or ... etc etc. You can get any number of devices that do this, but only the Chromecast is built in and enabled by default on every Android device (not sure what iOS status is ...).

Re: Chromecast Rooted

#53

exploited a new vulnerability in the Chromecast which allows root access Normally, vulnerabilities would be considered a bad thing. Heartbleed is a great example of that. But in cases like these, it's a very good thing. This is why I always like to remind those whose goal is to build more secure systems to consider the implications of their work, lest our devices become even more secure against us. They usually have…

I'd say users choose convenience over freedom, the security is in the back of their minds. Make a more convenient but free phone and people will use it.

Re: Chromecast Rooted

#54
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$35 and let's me use my phone as my remote for Netflix, HBO Go, and Hulu. Drop dead simple casting. Also it doesn't stream from the phone; it simply takes in commands so it might save your battery some.

Phones are poor remotes.

For flipping channels, but not for searching for content (Netflix). It's maddening to search with a conventional remote.

Re: Chromecast Rooted

#55
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The phone is a poor remote like democracy is a bad system of gov't. If your remote has a keyboard on it then more power to you, but none of mine do, and the phone is 1000x easier.

There's no need to downvote someone just because you disagree with them. For my money, the best remote I ever used was the original TiVo. There's something a lot more haptic about a physical remote with real buttons. And I have yet to see a Chromecast remote app that's very good. Where's the dedicated "skip back 9 seconds" button? Or "turn close captioning on"? These are things I do all the time while watching shows.

BOTH of those are available on the Chromecast Netflix, Youtube, and Plex apps.

Re: Chromecast Rooted

#56
post #52

Anyone having a Chromecast and able to tell me what I'm missing? Currently I've got xbmc running on a Raspberry Pi. Connected via HDMI, online via wifi and I can stream more or less everything (videos, images, music) from my phone to that thing - not sure if there's a decent way to do that from my laptop running Linux. What are Chromecasts used for? Should I buy one?

The real "feature" of the Chromecast isn't technical. It's the ecosystem and particularly the fact it "just works" and is built in and enabled by default on a large number of Android apps. So for example, my friend can come over to my house and fire up his Google Music and his phone automatically sees my Chromecast and he can play to it. Or movies, or photos or ... etc etc. You can get any number of devices that do t…

iOS has AirPlay which is Apple's implementation of a Chromecast style local streaming service. I use it with an Apple TV myself.

Re: Chromecast Rooted

#57
post #5

What would the capabilities of a rooted Chromecast be? I finally just got mine, and it's still new in box.

For me, forcing 1080i output would have been fantastic. My TV advertises 1080p support but for complicated reasons, does not support it.

Re: Chromecast Rooted

#58
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$35 and let's me use my phone as my remote for Netflix, HBO Go, and Hulu. Drop dead simple casting. Also it doesn't stream from the phone; it simply takes in commands so it might save your battery some.

Phones are poor remotes.

Phones are so much better than e.g. the Roku remote with on-screen keyboard and d-pad.

Re: Chromecast Rooted

#59

Anyone having a Chromecast and able to tell me what I'm missing? Currently I've got xbmc running on a Raspberry Pi. Connected via HDMI, online via wifi and I can stream more or less everything (videos, images, music) from my phone to that thing - not sure if there's a decent way to do that from my laptop running Linux. What are Chromecasts used for? Should I buy one?

Google wanted an Airplay competitor, and for whatever reason wanted to hobble it with the same restrictions as Airplay - a proprietary protocol to only let certain (closed source) programs stream to it, and prevent those programs from streaming to non-Google targets.

Re: Chromecast Rooted

#60

35 dollars for an android device that can now be turned into an XBMC device with netflix.... I think I may give the chromecast a second swing...

Don't hold your breath on that one. XBMC is very resource demanding and the SoC on Chromecast is not only not documented but also very low on resources.

However, they might be able to grab the private keys from it and use them to build add Chromecast emulation to XBMC.

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