5 Unexpected Uses For Your Google Chromecast

A Google Chromecast is an excellent way to catch the latest shows through streaming. Keeping up with content from Netflix, Hulu, Max, and other services is why most people are picking up a device like a Chromecast, but that's not all it can do. In fact, it has features that will change how you use it.

Though the bulk of your time on Chromecast will certainly be spent watching TV and movies, you can take advantage of the fact your Chromecast comes equipped with Google Assistant. You can use it for anything you typically ask of Google, and that means the little device you have plugged into the back of your TV has plenty of unexpected uses. If you've bought into the ecosystem with Android devices, Nest hubs, and other things under the Google umbrella, then you'll benefit greatly from a Chromecast being hooked up to your TV.

While Chromecast might be known best for casting shows and movies, it can cast a lot more than just that. For example, during your next family get-together, you can cast a slideshow from your Google Photos app just by using the same cast icon you use to send Netflix shows to your TV. There are a variety of different apps that take advantage of this feature that you might not know about.

If you work from home, you can cast your meetings to the TV through the Google Meet app. This means you're no longer restricted to the small smartphone screen, but instead get to work with the real estate a TV with a Chromecast offers. If you like listening to music on your phone, you can also cast that to your TV to take advantage of better speakers if you have them. At the very least, having music playing on your TV during a party is a nice touch.

If you want to turn your TV into a work of art you can do so with a Chromecast. This can be done by swapping your Chromecast into Ambient Mode. Doing this allows you to use a screensaver with your Chromecast that'll keep your screen on and show off a piece of artwork or the weather. You're able to choose any pictures from your phone, so if you have something nice saved you can just get that cast to the TV.

Google Photos automatically tries to choose the best pictures for Ambient Mode if you don't pick anything yourself, so don't fret if you can't find the perfect image. It'll avoid blurry and low-resolution photos, so there's no need to curate your camera roll and purge bad pictures. If you're not comfortable or happy with the curation Google does, you can turn this feature off and pick the images yourself.

A lot of people use doorbell cameras and outdoor security nowadays, and a Chromecast makes it very easy to keep track of everything. Typically, you'd have to pull up whatever app you use on your phone to get a look at your cameras, but a Chromecast lets you cut out the middleman. If you have a Nest Doorbell, all you have to do is ask your Chromecast to show your camera and it'll start streaming the footage to your TV. 

Not many people are going to spend all day watching security footage on their TV, but it's nice to have an easy and simple way to bring it up on your big screen. This will work on any Google Home devices you have around the house as well, so you don't always have to bring up an app to get a look at your cameras.

If you're watching something late at night using your Chromecast, you can actually swap to using a pair of headphones to avoid the risk of waking people up. It's a very nice feature, and the only thing you have to do is head to the Remote & Accessories section of your Google home screen to get it turned on. This allows you to sync up a Bluetooth headset to your Chromecast and route all of the audio into that.

This means you'll be allowed to enjoy whatever you're watching with your Chromecast quietly to yourself, and it can come in handy when you're watching something in bed. The same goes for when you have outside noise affecting your viewing experience too. If somebody is cutting the grass outside your apartment window and it's making watching a movie tough, swapping to a Bluetooth headset for listening can fix the problem. 

There is a big push to mobile gaming as of late, and many phones are running demanding games — the iPhone 15 Pro will be getting 2023's "Resident Evil 4" running natively. The downside to mobile gaming is the fact you're stuck on a small smartphone screen instead of your TV. Well, the Chromecast solves that problem in a big way. 

You can mirror your screen to your Chromecast, and that means if you're playing "COD Mobile," you'll be able to do it on a TV. Many games support using a controller, so it'll feel a lot like playing on a console, except it's all running from your phone. If you don't want to mirror your device, you can search for games that can be cast directly. You can search through the list of supported games by looking through the TV games tab on the Google Play Store.