Sometimes, the screen on our smartphones is too small for us to enjoy the content we want to enjoy to the fullest, which is why we Google made Cast (formerly Chromecast). If you have a TV or bigger screen nearby, and you’re not currently doing anything with it, you can just beam the content you’re watching and lay back. Now, Google wants to improve it even more.

Google has announced a slew of changes and additions to Google Cast that will most certainly improve how you cast content on your other devices. Among them is the Output Switcher, which was first introduced back in Android 13, is adding improved volume control, device categories, and support for custom protocols for Android 14 users.

We’re also getting the ability to cast content from a Pixel smartphone to a docked Pixel Tablet by just getting the phone near the tablet. The feature apparently needs a Pixel Pro smartphone and piggybacks off the improved Output Switcher implementation. The integration works both ways—from your phone to your tablet and from your tablet to your phone, but it appears to only work for music, at least for now.

If you’re the kind to get hooked doomscrolling on apps like TikTok or Instagram Reels, Google Cast now supports casting from short-form video apps—the Google Cast icon is highlighted on every screen with playable content, making it easy for users to cast media to their TVs. It’s also making it easier to troubleshoot why you might not be seeing specific cast devices that you should see thanks to a new persistent (and more informative) Cast icon.

These are definitely minor additions. After all, casting has been around for years, and it’s already a pretty mature feature. Still, it’s good to see that Google is still improving upon it.

The post where Google announced these changes is written for developers, and if you’re a developer of an app that can cast media to other devices, you should definitely read through it if you want to implement the new changes. If you’re a regular user, you’ll probably want to keep your apps (and operating system) updated if you want to check out these changes. They will probably pop up on popular apps soon.

Source: Google