How to set up Chromecast and what it can do for you

How to set up Chromecast

Today is the day for learn how to set up Chromecast and what it can do for you. Especially in those new models in which features are added to enjoy a whole experience to turn televisions into a multimedia center.

And it is this last virtue that can surely stand out above all, since, for example, the Chromecast with Google TV is capable of transforming that television with HDMI connection into a complete multimedia center in which to install HBO, Netflix or Disney + or simply pull VLC to connect another PC through the local network and stream content. Go for it.

How to set up Chromecast

Google's XNUMXnd Gen Chromecast

We have already taught you how to connect Chromecast to TV y what is chromecast which, in its latest model, brings I get a remote for us to use to control everything that happens on screen.

In all the models present on the market, such as the second, third and fourth generation (the one with the remote control and Google TV), we will need to use the Google Home app to be able to configure it for the first time and thus enjoy your experience of sending content in streaming through our mobile or through that Google TV in the latest generation of the Google dongle.

Having said that, with any Chromecast we can always cast content from a tablet, mobile or PC to launch it to the screen that we want to stream. The only thing that the one that has control allows us to put aside other devices so that we can broadcast from it.

Setting up

The steps are these:

  • Connect Chromecast to any of its models to the HDMI connection of the TV
  • From your mobile download the Google Home app:
Google Home
Google Home
Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free
  • Now we have to be aware that we use the same local connectioneither via cable or WiFi, so Chromecast can be synced
  • We launched Google Home on the mobile
  • A message appears in which it shows us that we can configure the new Chromecast
  • We follow the steps, very simple
  • Y we will have our Chromecast ready

What Chromecast Can Do

Using the remote control

The most important thing about Chromecast is that we can broadcast content from our mobile through the ten apps that we have available. Even the Facebook app has that broadcast button that we can press to broadcast a video that we want to see on our television.

These are some of the things you can do with Chromecast:

  • Cast YouTube videos on your TV
  • Cast videos from Facebook or other social networks
  • Use your streaming platforms to play their content
  • Use Spotify to play your favorite music on a bigger screen with the cover image (if we add some Bluetooth speakers we will have a quality audio center)
  • Create a ambient sound system throughout the house to play your music favorite at the same time
  • Play Podcasts from your TV
  • Play games through which you install on Chromecast with Google TV
  • Pair game controllers to Chromecast remote control with Google TV
  • Connect a hub to connect storage devices external to the Chromecast dongle with Google TV and thus play all the content you have on USB sticks and external hard drives
  • Play all the photos you have taken with your camera and what do you have in Google Photos
  • Play photos of all categories to have a select Ambience Mode
  • Set up a Plex server in your home and play all the content through the app on your Chromecast
  • With 2 Chromecasts you can send Netflix to one TV and music to another from the same mobile
  • Use your laptop to stream content on your TV with Chromecast via VLC

Activate guest mode on Chromecast

Guest

With guest mode you can allow whoever is in your house to use Chromecast to cast content from your television, so he can show you that new trend GIF or that new Disney + series that he can send through your Chromecast.

  • Go to the Google Home app
  • Choose your Chromecast
  • press above the sprocket in the upper right
  • Under Allow other users to control content, choose Always

Use the Google Assistant

From your mobile you can use the Google Assistant or Google Assistant to cast content on your TV. A simple example:

  • «Ok Google, play Stranger Things from Netflix on the TV«

Use the Google Assistant button on Chromecast with Google TV for searches

Chromecast remote with Google TV

Chromecast with Google TV has a built-in microphone on the same remote and it has a dedicated button for the Google Assistant. You can use it like this:

  • Take the controller and hold the Google Assistant button .
  • Use your voice to search for a specific video or whatever you want
  • YouTube will give you the results

This is one of the star options of Chromecast with Google TV and that make it a whole device for voice searches of all kinds.

Customize the ambient mode to show Google Photos or themes

Ambient mode with Photos

We can show all the photos that we have uploaded in Google Photos and select the folders we want. That is, we go to Google Photos on the mobile and create a folder called Chromecast or home TV or whatever.

En this folder we move the photos that we want to view from the TV screen. Apart from the fact that we can use selected Art Gallery of all categories:

  • We select our Chromecast in Google Home
  • Click on the cogwheel icon located in the upper right

Ambient mode

  • We choose Ambient Mode
  • We select Google Photos or Art Gallery or Experimental (Facebook or Flickr)
  • It also lets us show the weather in our area, the time, device information, photo data, display vertical photos from Photos and even the slideshow speed

Play games from Chromecast with Google TV

Apps installed on Google TV

Although the other models allow us to broadcast games, the truth is that the experience changes a lot with the last generation launched last year. Chromecast with Google TV allows us to use Google TV to install a large number of games as they are top 10 games for Chromecast that we chose recently.

  • We go to a PC with access to a browser to go to Google Play
  • We look for some games and try to install them on Google TV
  • We can also do the same from the main screen of Google TV to install the games
  • Let's stop a control knob of the PS4 or PS5 or XboX

Use Google Stadia to play games

Stadia with Chromecast Ultra

While we can use GeForce Now on Chromecast with Google TV, in the ultra version of Chromecast, the third generation, and that comes with Google Stadia, it will allow us to enjoy this game streaming platform.

To understand us, it is as if it were a Netflix of games:

  • We install Stadia on mobile:
Stadia
Stadia
Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free
  • We launched Stadia and we broadcast it through Chromecast Ultra
  • Ready to play

For to be able to play Stadia on the TV we need that third generation that broadcasts content in 4K unlike the previous ones. Now we have to wait for the same to be done from Chromecast with Google TV.

Mirror your mobile screen to your TV

Send screen chromecast

Another action that we can to do with Chromecast is to cast the screen of our mobile, or what is often called "mirroring." That is, what you see on your mobile screen will look like a mirror in your living room where you have your Chromecast connected.

As simple as:

  • Go to the Home app
  • Click on your Chromecast device where you have it connected
  • At the bottom you will see a button that says «Send my screen»
  • Press and it will stream what you see on your screen as if it were magic

Create a multi-room or multi-room audio system

Create audio group on Chromecast

If you have Chromecast with Google TV You can choose to create groups from the Home app and select the audio devices you have from that group at home so that what you are playing plays at the same time. It's like having an ambient sound system that will sound throughout the house, and the truth is, if you are listening to your favorite music, wherever you go you will be playing it.

For this we are going to:

  • La Home app on mobile
  • We select the device where we have Chromecast with Google TV
  • Now in the upper part we click on the toothed button
  • In Groups you will not have anything assigned, so we hit it
  • We create in the following a group of devices
  • Now we have to go to the main screen and select another device that we have connected to Home, such as a Google Home Mini or a Bluetooth speaker
  • We select it and go to the cogwheel
  • We choose again «Groups»
  • Now we select the group previously created such as «Multi-room»
  • You will see from the main Home screen that there is now a group created with a speaker icon
  • If we click on play music, all the speaker devices you have will be used to play it

Adjust group sound volume

Now we can even adjust the sound level to be fair in volume:

  • We go to the group where we have the devices assigned
  • And in the settings icon at the top, we access the sound settings
  • We tested with sliders until the appropriate sound optimization is found

So can configure Chromecast and do all these things that we have taught you to do. A great device that can bring old televisions back to life or give that special touch to our home as a multimedia center.


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