Moments in Chromecast's history • Hacker News Board

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#91

Post by ghaff » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 2:56 PM UTC

woodrowbarlow wrote: post #69

mbreese wrote: post #23

How much of this is an "end" to Chromecast and a rebranding of Chromecast to "Google TV Streamer"? It seems like the bare-bones experience of a Chromecast being tied to a phone (or browser) is getting replaced with an Apple TV like experience. If this is the case, it might be a (rare) example of a good branding shift from Google. I have had two Chromecasts (the original and an Ultra) and I feel like both were hampere…

the phone/browser lock-in is largely due to lack of a standardized and open protocol to stream content in this manner. in the wireless-display-sharing ecosystem the chromecast is unique in that, when possible, it streams content from the original provider on a local client rather than relying on mirroring your device's display. this gives a better user experience but required participation from each service provider.…

I was at my brother's on vacation and we were sharing some vacation pics. The mirroring worked pretty well but I do wish there were a straightforward way to just cast a browser to a TV in a standard way.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#92

Post by rickdeckard » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 2:56 PM UTC

lxgr wrote: post #60

rickdeckard wrote: post #4

well, they no longer produce the "display-only" Chromecast in favor of their "Google TV" sticks with Remote etc. Not that much of a shock here, the market moved on from simple wireless display dongles. Unfortunately no sign of Google Cast protocol being opened for general purpose use. Would be great to be able to run your own custom Receiver-device without needing a Google certificate...

> the market moved on from simple wireless display dongles. Has it? Then it must have left me behind somewhere. My Chromecast does 4K, Dolby Vision, runs Android TV, has a usable remote. What needs to change? There's no newer A/V standard available anyway! I literally couldn't think of anything else I'd want it to do. (Google could, of course, and it's somehow "AI", even though that probably just runs in the cloud an…

> My Chromecast does 4K, Dolby Vision, runs Android TV, has a usable remote

That's what Google calls "Google TV" now, a product which still exists. During the transition they called the dongles "Chromecast with Google TV". Now the "Chromecast" part of it is discontinued and its all "Google TV".

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#93

Post by sf_rob » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 2:57 PM UTC

Whenever I submit Google Home/Chromecast bugs/feature requests I include some snark in my sign-off like "I know you don't care about this product and it will be killed soon, but if I'm wrong please consider the suggestions above."

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#94

Post by riggsdk » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 2:57 PM UTC

lordleft wrote: post #25

I really disliked my Chromecast...despite being able to output 4k, the OS was sluggish and it barely had storage to hold the streaming apps I was interested in using. I ditched it for the Apple4K.

I also quickly ditched mine. I mean it worked sorta fine - but the usability was absolutely terrible. Often apps lost connection with it so any requests to pause or resume the media was several seconds delayed. If I got a phone call I often wanted a quick way to pause my media but chromecast made this super inconvenient, slow and stressful when the phone is blurting out it's ringtone. App support was also spotty at best. In the end I realized that since I've already chosen between a rock and a hard place (went with the Apple ecosystem), I could just screenshare using an old Apple TV. This ended up working much better in practice (although lower quality video stream) than Chromecast. Today I don't cast much video anymore for some reason, not really sure why. I have an Apple TV 4K and just mostly use the native apps from various services. Having a remote to a system that is completely detached from your phone is much nicer usability wise IMHO.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#95

Post by nextos » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 2:57 PM UTC

aestetix wrote: post #8

So they are ending Chromecast, and also just launched the "Google TV Streamer" which seems to do the same thing, but "faster, more premium" whatever that means. Seems to be a reason to charge people more for the same thing but slap the AI label all over it. But that's just first impressions. Edit: and apparently the TV Streamer thing is twice the price of the Chromecast.

Or their internal fights / incentives to release new things instead of maintaining them.

The chat mess with Google Talk, Hangouts, Meet, Duo, etc. was quite sad to watch because Talk was a great product.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#96

Post by n4r9 » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 2:57 PM UTC

What reasonably priced alternatives are there for streaming from a phone/laptop to a screen via HDMI port? Ideally a portable solution that I can use when traveling and staying in hotels or AirBnBs (as I can currently do with my Chromecast unless the hotel WiFi has an annoying sign-in process). Even more ideally, something that's free/open-source and can be guaranteed not to collect and send data to third parties.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#97

Post by ink_13 » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 2:57 PM UTC

mbreese wrote: post #23

How much of this is an "end" to Chromecast and a rebranding of Chromecast to "Google TV Streamer"? It seems like the bare-bones experience of a Chromecast being tied to a phone (or browser) is getting replaced with an Apple TV like experience. If this is the case, it might be a (rare) example of a good branding shift from Google. I have had two Chromecasts (the original and an Ultra) and I feel like both were hampere…

The 4K Chromecast "with Google TV" basically was that already, since it has the full-screen menu-based interface and remote. It seems a bit silly to me that they're tossing the brand aside but maybe they're doing that for exactly this reason.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#98

Post by ghaff » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 2:57 PM UTC

lxgr wrote: post #24

Wow, even for Google, this seems like an exceptionally well-liked and popular brand name and device to kill. The replacement ("Google TV streamer") seems to be a quite different device – most importantly, one that will be very visible next to a TV, and not out of sight behind it like its predecessor. For anyone not particularly interested in having "AI" in their streaming stick (and this being Google, surely that wil…

I think you'd find that the vast majority of consumers have never heard of Chromecast.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#99

Post by chuckadams » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 2:57 PM UTC

codepoet80 wrote: post #46

poetril wrote: post #27

Looks like I'll be moving towards Roku, most of my friends use it and I've been using a Chromecast because I was gifted on. But the experience w/ Roku seems to be superior to Chromecast nowadays anyways.

Roku has always been pretty great -- simple, straightforward, limited UI clutter (source: have been a user since 2013). However, lately they've been adding more and more suggested/sponsored content to the home screen. Most of these things can be turned off, and even with them on, it doesn't slow down the experience significantly (I'm looking at you, Fire TV) but it is a shame. I suppose they've got to make money some…

Got a Roku stick last year after two FireTV sticks bricked themselves. First thing I noticed was that the volume on the remote can only control Roku devices. Then there’s the ads that are creeping in everywhere, but I admit they do stay out of the way… for now.

Going back to AppleTV for my next device. I don’t like how search steers all results through Apple, but I can work around that. Plus I can use it as an exit node on my Tailscale network.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#100

Post by physicsguy » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 2:57 PM UTC

mgaunard wrote: post #53

swamp_donkey wrote: post #19

Is there any substitute for chrome cast audio? I love being able to play in sync audio to the group of receivers I choose throughout the property, using any amplifier. I’m not even using the digital optical input and I love them

You can buy any of the google-enabled speakers, or you can just get some raspberry pi and run your own solution.

The point was that you could have an optical out connection to a Hi-Fi system and things would just work from Spotify, etc... The google speakers don't even have an aux out. A Rasperry Pi isn't at all equivalent as it's not plug and play.