If you use Google Chrome on your Mac or PC, the latest update to the browser brings fully integrated Google Cast support. Long time users of Chrome will know that there has been a Google-built Cast extension for some time now, two years in fact. This update essentially deprecates that extension as it is no longer need. Casting is now in the core of Chrome itself. The net result for users is that when you are on a site that supports Google Cast, you will see a casting icon appear near your search bar. Click it, select the Google Cast you want to cast too and that’s it. No configuring things and no fussing about. It’s that simple.
The good news is that even if you are on a site that doesn’t support Google Cast by default, you can use the menu and select Cast to cast that site.
Casting Built Into Chrome
As Google put in their blog post about this update, Casting has become a huge part of many people’s lives that are in the Google/Android/Chrome ecosystem.
Casting from Chrome has become incredibly popular: In the past month alone, people have casted more than 38 million times from Chrome, watching and listening to more than 50 million hours of content.
Given the low cost of a Google Cast device (Just $30 at the Google Store) and the high number of Android apps that you can Cast from, having native support for it in Chrome just makes sense.
You will need to update to the latest build of Chrome on PC or Mac to have the native casting support. If you have Chrome installed, just go to chrome://help to force your browser to perform an update.
