Google hasn’t forgotten about the millions of people globally still using its iconic and now-discontinued Chromecast devices, with a couple of key updates being pushed out on Sunday that add AI smarts and extend the life of its first-generation dongles.
For those who own the 4K Chromecast with Google TV dongle, there’s an exciting addition in the shape of Gemini, it’s all-powerful LLM chatbot which can now keep users engaged in humanlike conversations. Meanwhile, the second update pertains to the 13-year old first-generation Chromecasts, with Google issuing a fix for a problem that emerged last week and essentially bricked most of the veteran streaming sticks.
Android Headlines was the first to report the Gemini update, which is sadly only coming to the 4K model thus far, though it’s certainly possible the HD versions will get it later.
Gemini was already available on the Google TV Streamer, a set-top box device that was deemed as the successor to the Chromecast, but Google never made it clear if it would also bring AI smarts to its older streaming hardware.
But with Sunday’s firmware update, Google has clarified that at least some dongles will be getting Gemini. It brings a whole new Gemini app, where users can ask questions, create images and so on, just like they do on their Android smartphones.
As for the older Chromecasts, their update is somewhat surprising, given that Google officially ended support and stopped providing any more firmware in 2022. The first-generation Chromecast launched way back in 2013, and when numerous reports of the devices packing up emerged at the end of last week, it looked like they were pretty much dead in the water.
However, Google has provided a fix for the problem in double-quick time, extending the lifetime of its dongles once more. "The issue impacting the ability to cast some services to Chromecast devices has been resolved," Google said in a statement to Android Authority, without explaining what caused them to stop streaming apps such as Netflix, YouTube and Disney+.
Likely, Google was prompted into action by the vast number of users reporting problems, and even though it was not compelled to fix a now unsupported device, it opted to do so nonetheless. It was probably a pretty simple fix, and Google decided it may as well keep the faith of the Chromecast’s beloved users, considering how surprisingly numerous they still are.
However, users should not expect their aged Chromecasts to keep going for much longer. It’s not only Google that needs to ensure they’re still supported, but also the streaming apps themselves. In the case of the American streaming service Peacock+, its app no longer runs on the Chromecast because the old hardware is incompatible with some of its features. Don’t be surprised if other streamers stop supporting them too, as they add more functionality to their apps.
