What you need to know
- Google announced a new casting feature that allows you to move your Spotify and YouTube Music between your Pixel phone and docked Pixel Tablet.
- Chromecast built-in is officially welcoming TikTok to the party, bringing all those viral hits straight to your big screen as well as the ability to cast live TikTok videos in the future.
- Chromecast is spreading its wings to more devices, including the 2024 LG TV series, and later this year, it's crashing into LG Hospitality and Healthcare.
- Soon, Matter devices will be simpler to add to your home network when LG TVs, a few Google TVs, and other Android TV OS devices serve as Google Home hubs.
At CES 2024, Google spilled the beans on a bunch of updates and fresh features for Chromecast, all aimed at making transferring media between devices smoother than ever.
Perhaps one of the most surprising announcements is Google's decision to make casting from short-form video apps like TikTok a native experience. Currently, casting TikTok videos from your Android phone to TV requires several steps, starting with mirroring the entire phone to the big screen.
Soon, the Cast icon will appear on every screen with playable content in the TikTok app's top right corner. And with auto-play enabled, it smoothly rolls into the next video without you lifting a finger.
Hitting more devices
Chromecast will also come to additional devices. The shiny new LG TVs hitting the shelves in 2024 will be flexing with built-in Chromecast. The Google TV squad is also growing, now with more members like the fresh Hisense ULED and ULED X Series, along with the latest TCL Q Class models and the hot-off-the-press QM7 line.
Google is also on a mission to prepare your smart home setup for the Matter takeover. Coming soon, LG TVs and some Google TV and other Android TV OS devices are stepping up as hubs for Google Home. So, if you've got a Nest Hub, Nest Mini, or a compatible TV, adding Matter devices to your home network and bossing them around with the Google Home app is about to be a piece of cake.
Casting to nearby devices
As for the Pixel Tablet, Google's rolling out a fresh trick to make casting from your phone a breeze. Say hello to the "Cast to devices nearby" feature, which lets you sling media onto your tablet by holding your phone close to it. This was spotted earlier last year.
When this kicks in, you can ditch the menu hassle on your device. Just make sure your Pixel Tablet is docked, and pick it as your casting target. Wave your phone in front of it, let the ultra-wideband chip work its magic, and you're beaming whatever media you want. Thanks to the ultra-wideband chip in the Pixel Tablet, it senses your device.
This feature is a two-way street. Your Pixel tablet sends music back to your Pixel phone, and all it takes is getting the phone cozy with the tablet again. But there's a catch—this cool trick is exclusive to the Pixel Pro models.
Chromecast's output switcher is getting a facelift as well, with better volume control and slick device categories. Plus, Fast Pair is hitting Chromecast with Google TV next month and spreading to more Google TV devices later this year.
