All my Chromecasts are in storage, but I’m still sad Google is killing the dongle off
Google wants to go for a more premium streaming experience, so Chromecast is going the way of Google Plus.
The original Chromecast was always a clever idea. A dongle with nothing but an HDMI port that let you stream content to your TV via your phone.
It was lightweight enough that you could slip it into a travel bag to turn any hotel TV into your own entertainment device. Plus, the ability to cast had buy in from all the major streaming services, so you could easily stream YouTube, Netflix, and even audio-only services like Spotify without any difficulty.
Despite its lightweight appeal and intelligent software, the Chromecast never really became a mainstay of my home entertainment setup. With smart TVs offering direct streaming, and devices like the Apple TV 4K offering a more complete solution to accessing online video content, the Chromecast plugged into the back of my TV never got used.
