Chrome Browser Update Ditches Google Cast Extension For Integrated Support

The Google Chrome team has just announced that the latest version of the Chrome browser comes with support for Google Cast, the technology that enables users to cast content from their smartphones, tablets and laptops to their television screens or speakers.

Announcing the good news on the Google Chrome official blog on Monday, Chrome product manager Stephen Konig stated that with the full integration of Google Cast into the browser, everyone can now cast website content to Cast-enabled devices that are connected to the same network as the device with the updated Chrome browser.

Chrome’s Google Cast works for all devices, but it is quicker and easier to cast when the user is on one of the select websites that are integrated with Cast. For websites that do not have Google Cast support, they can still view the sites’ content on their TV or speakers by heading to the Chrome menu and looking for the Cast option there.

For the past two years, users who wanted to use Google Cast via Chrome had to rely on the Chrome extension for the Chromecast-like technology. Users had to download and install the additional software just to broadcast content to Cast-enabled devices from the Chrome browser.

The Google Chrome team recognized that the extension for Chrome was a big hit that more than 38 million people have actually used the technology to watch and listen to over 50 million hours of content through their Cast-enabled devices.

Now that Google Cast has become a built-in feature of the Chrome browser, TechCrunch claims that the number of users and the number of hours spent on casting content are bound to go up, knowing that people can instantly broadcast content from Netflix and Google Play Music to other devices without the required menu digging.

Aside from entertainment content, users can now use Google Cast to engage in important video calls in Google Hangouts and share presentations in the classroom with the Cast for Education app that are also supported by the Chrome-integrated Google Cast.

With the Chrome integration, TechCrunch believes that users are now closer to enjoying a seamless transit channel that would enhance their digital life by upgrading the home-based computing experience with the prospect of enabling a single device — say a smartphone — control all the smart appliances at home.