If you own a Chromecast and have the Google Cast extension installed, you might already be familiar with tab casting. With it, you can display anything that’s on a Chrome tab to your TV. While this tab mirroring feature is good, it’s far from optimal. Especially when it comes to watching videos.
Chromecast can only cast tabs at 720p resolution. So forget watching Full HD videos. Plus, as Chromecast is literally mirroring everything on your screen instead of smoothly playing a video, there’s quite a lot of lag.
Websites like YouTube have a Cast button in their web player. When you click that, a link is sent to Chromecast and the video is played there. On the highest resolution your machine can allow. And there’s no lag.
This is clearly much better than mirroring the tab. The only problem is a lot of websites don’t support this feature. But don’t worry, thanks to a bookmarklet (and a Chrome extension) for desktop we’ll be able to do this in a jiffy. You can do this from Android as well.
1. VidCast Bookmarklet
Visit the website and drag the VidCast button to your bookmarks bar. Next time you come across an embedded video on a website that doesn’t support casting, simply click the bookmarklet. The extension will scan the video and load it up in its own player.
Click the Cast button, choose your Chromecast and start playing the video! VidCast supports websites like Vimeo, TED, Dailymotion and more.
An alternative to VidCast is the PlayTo for Chromecast extension.
2. EZCast for Android
Tap the Web button in the app and navigate to where the video is. Tap Play and you’ll get a popup for options and then videos will start playing on the TV. It’s as simple as that.
3. Firefox for Android
It’s kind of shocking that Chrome for Android doesn’t have built-in Chromecast support yet Firefox does. Just like Chrome on desktop, you can mirror the entire tab, including any currently playing media. To do this, make sure you have the latest version of Firefox installed.
Load up the page, tap the Menu button, go to Tools and select Mirror tab. Select your Chromecast and the media will start playing.
Bonus
My Cloud Player for SoundCloud: If you’re a fan of SoundCloud, this app will let you stream all your favorite music directly to Chromecast.
How Do You Use Chromecast?
Out of the 38 million possible uses for Chromecast, what are you using it for? Let us know in the comments below.
Last updated on 03 February, 2022
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
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DID YOU KNOW
Apple acquired Beats Music & Beats Electronics on 1 August 2014.
