Sometime soon, you should get a more straightforward option that's also free. The only failures I saw involved QuickTime files, identifiable by the. To find out for sure, go to Chrome's File menu, select 'Open…', pick a file and, once it's loaded in the browser, click the cast icon at the top right of its toolbar. The only major omissions among Chrome's supported media formats are Apple's proprietary QuickTime and anything wrapped up with 'digital rights management' restrictions, such as movies or TV shows bought or rented off online stores such as Apple's iTunes. On a computer, the rule is that if Google's Chrome browser can open a file and you have the Google Cast extension installed, a nearby Chromecast will play that file - assuming your laptop's processor can handle the work required to encode and stream media, which shouldn't be an issue on most newer machines. Although Google markets this $35 pod as a way to stream video, audio and images from Internet sites and apps to whatever TV it's plugged into - and its help pages don't describe any other use - the Chromecast can also play many files on your computer, phone or tablet.
Can I play movie and music files from my computer to a Chromecast? Would that let me work around the Chromecast not being able to get on hotel WiFi?Ī.
