Google Chromecast

[News]

Yet another OT post.

Chromecast was` mentioned in a recent TV related discussion, which made me wander off and read more, only to discover the audio version, released September this year. Sounds perfect for playing mp3s from almost anything.

So, assuming I have a desktop running W7 or a laptop running XP, both with folders full of mp3 files and wireless connections, how does the file actually play through the Chromecast? Does the Chromecast appear as another drive, to which files are copied, or what? I'm far more interested in playing mp3s from a PC than live streaming from a phone.

[John]

I'm currently listening to Hunky Dory streamed from a chromecast enabled app (rocket player) on my phone. Couldn't find any linux apps that would do the same a few weeks ago (don't have any windows machines). Sound quality is very good and no issues as yet.

[News]

You would be Wifey's best friend :-)

OK, thanks. Given the price, I'm tempted to just suck it and see. If all else fails, I could always copy mp3s from PC to my hand-me-down Samsung S3 and use that as a player.

[Danny Colyer]

When you initially set it up, you configure the Chromecast to connect to your router via wifi. I used an Android app to do it, I presume there are ways of doing it without a smartphone or tablet.

It then appears as a device on your network to connect to. You don't store anything on it, you stream stuff through it.

[News]

In message , Danny Colyer writes

Excellent, thanks. Yes, that is what I assumed.

Yes, I realise that. I wasn't sure how, from a Windows PC, but seems interesting enough to play further.

[John]

Reading Danny Colyler's reply has made me remember one annoyance; when I tried to play (or cast, as it's termed) a file using google play I got a " Unable to play the song. Can't play sideloaded song remotely" error. It seems that google want you to store and play your music from "the cloud" more detail here:

So, I just ignored the google app and used another, problem solved.

[pamela]

If you want to play audio from an app on your Smartphone then the app needs to support Chromecast Audio but not all audio players do so you may need to switch.

There are several other ways of doing this. See this article.