Chromecast with Google TV: 10 Essential tips and tricks!

so google decided that the chromecast needed its own unique flavor of android tv to properly compete with the best streaming sticks on the market like the fire tv and rokutv which means quite a big shift in how you use the device we like many of you out there watching have been using the chromecast with google tv for quite a while now and we have some tips and tricks of our own that we think you really need to know thanks for watching 95 google here on youtube remember to thumbs up hit subscribe and then tap the bell icon to be among the first to watch our upcoming videos so before we dive in properly the og chromecast chromecast 2018 and chromecast ultra are pretty simple and easy to use but without a real interface to speak of all three just act as a conduit for your smartphone to tv connection if you just want simplicity this is absolutely awesome understandably though some people want a proper interface with apps and a traditional remote with google tv you're getting a brand new ui that comes with some familiar elements but the same benefits as a regular old chromecast plus you get a nice little remote if you can't or don't want to use your smartphone these added benefits of this new model mean that it can be a more integral component in your home entertainment system especially as it does come with a dedicated remote so with that said here are 10 of our favorite tips and tricks for new and existing chromecast with google tv owners to make the most of their new streaming dongle so naturally the watch list is a major feature of the chromecast with google tv and one of our biggest tips is to add content within the google tv or play movies and tv app to get better overall recommendations from all of your favorite streaming services this works in conjunction with the google tv watch list tab and bookmark option 2. because the google tv home screen is dynamic by adding more programs and movies to your watch list you're tailoring the experience to better surface new content for you to enjoy it's pretty darn good too even if you have a niche area of interest or genre that you do love to watch so from your mobile phone you want to open the google tv or play movies and tv app then tap the watch list section at the bottom tab now search for a tv or movie show that you like and then all you need to do is tap the watch list option and this will therefore be added to your google tv device that's not all though as you can actually add tvs and movie shows to your watch list from a browser so when signed into your account or chrome or any other browser for that matter just search for a movie and in the right hand sidebar you can toggle the watchlist option searching for my watch list as well will also pull up all the content you bookmark for later on which is pretty neat and then hopefully the next time you refresh google tv or turn on your chromecast you will see some new recommendations based upon your watchlist additions on the included chromecast remote there are dedicated youtube and netflix buttons and these are great if you use both services quite extensively but understandably not everyone out there will because this can often be the case another tip that we think you might love is the ability to remap the controller buttons on the chromecast with google tv remote there are some limitations to this but let's talk about what you can do right out of the box you can remap the youtube button to a limited number of applications supported including youtube youtube tv youtube kids and youtube music to do so all you need to do is press and hold the youtube button which will bring up a pop-up menu and allow you to make these adjustments however if you download button mapper from the play store you can actually change all of the buttons on your remote and this is the only way to adjust the netflix shortcut this does require a 4.99 in-app purchase to unlock all of the features but it is worth the asking price if you use your chromecast with google tv each and every day you're not even limited to just launching specific applications either as you can even run shortcuts take a screenshot plus much more on top so naturally some people don't like to hear system sounds when navigating the menus and making selections on the chromecast which is understandable this means that this is a fairly simple tip for knowledgeable chromecast with google tv owners but not everyone is a tech nerd so to turn off audio feedback you can just head to settings display and sounds toggle system sounds and this will silence any ui interactions you have when using the remote to navigate the google tv interface it's worth noting that this will not disable audio feedback from the google assistant though so some of you might not realize but there is actually a semi-hidden quick access menu and notification shade in google tv that can save you scrolling through the main ui to get to important settings pages usually to access the settings you'll have to scroll right up from the menu or even exit an application but pressing and holding the home button on the controller if you haven't remapped will open up a side menu where you can quickly access the settings and even get an update of the time and weather and see any notifications that the system has provided you with the best thing about this side menu is that you can activate it within any application that said opening up the settings menu will close the application or pause it in the background temporarily while you make some changes so during the initial setup process you may have skipped through a pop-up that asks you just what streaming services you use on the daily and want access to on your chromecast with google tv at that point you may not have realized that any services you have selected will effectively determine just what services movies and shows that recommended content will display for you on the main google tv home screen luckily as this is an android tv based ui you can make plenty of tweaks to improve or remove certain recommendations to do so just head to settings accounts and sign in select your account then select your services you can then uncheck any apps you currently have installed to add and remove them from your recommendations on the home page [Music] while we love the new device we can't defend the pretty poultry four gigabytes of storage on the chromecast with google tv so a massive tip we suggested to add a usbc hub to expand the internal storage and make it easier to add extra peripherals there are literally hundreds of usbc hubs that you can choose from but for twenty dollars you can get a fairly small hub that includes all of the necessary essentials like micro sd full size sd usb a usbc and even hdmi slots to give you a ton of options to expand the powers of your chromecast with google tv above many other competitors we'll leave a link in the description to our favorite which you can see on screen right now if you have multiple devices linked to your google home account well did you know that you can add the chromecast with google tv to a speaker group well this means that you can use your tv as an extra speaker with an existing group of speakers to set this neat feature up you need to open the google home app and be signed in on your smartphone then head on or find the chromecast that you want to add to a group then tap settings group and from here you will be able to create a new speaker group or add a chromecast to an existing group of speakers and tvs that means if you do choose to play to this speaker group your tv will activate and play the audio as it would with any other speaker in your home if you have children or someone not necessarily tech savvy using the chromecast with google tv a prime tip is to use the apps only mode this removes all of the recommendation sections which is ideal for ensuring that potentially inappropriate content or recommendations are not promoted front and center and tempting a click you can turn on this mode by heading to settings account selecting your account then tapping apps only mode and enabling this mode simplifies the experience quite extensively with the google assistant notably not working when this is active which might be a deal breaker for some of you out there that said it's an extra protection feature that you might want to enable if you have multiple people in the house accessing your tv another tip that we think you simply need to know is that the chromecast with google tv can sync or pair with a bluetooth speaker or headphones this is brilliant if you don't want to bother a friend or family member when watching something loud obnoxious or maybe late into the evening it's as simple as heading to settings remote and accessories and then selecting the headphones or speaker you want to sync with as long as they're in pairing mode then you can connect the process is really simple and quick and if you were looking at picking up a soundbar or something like external audio then you can just use what you already have and improve the listening experience even in streaming apps like youtube netflix disney plus and much more so when not in use you can set your chromecast to show things like popular artworks sometimes google maps images and then plus some of your favorite google photos collections and albums well there's more that you can tailor or personalize too including things like the local weather conditions and the date and time so when your chromecast is idling ambient mode will turn your tv into what amounts to a large nest hub or smart display it's not game changing nor is it feature rich but it does help reduce the risk of screen burning on your tv set to enable or make changes and tweaks to ambient mode you can just head to settings system and ambient mode so those are 10 of our essential tips and tricks for a chromecast with google tv owner out there but if you have any tips and tricks of your own that you think you should know then be sure to let us know down in the comment section below and who knows we might feature them in a future rundown but with all of that said this is damian with 95 google saying thanks for watching hopefully these helped you get the most of your streaming dongle but until next time i'll speak to you later you

Channel: 9to5Google

Views: 95,907

Keywords: 9to5Google, Damien Wilde

Id: z_Vzby3xBX8

Length: 10min 14sec (614 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 26 2021