- Original Chromecasts are starting to fail en masse
- Device support officially ended in 2023
- Technology lives on with the Google TV Streamer box
Some 13 years after it debuted – and received a 5 out of 5 star rating from us, by the way – it seems like it’s finally the end of the road for the original first-generation Chromecast, with many users now reporting that their devices have stopped working.
As spotted by 9to5Google, the number of these reports on Reddit has been increasing, with a significant number of people claiming that their dongles are no longer capable of streaming anything. The change seems to have happened in recent days.
As a reminder, Google stopped updating the device in 2023, and some applications (including Peacock) have since withdrawn support. Some contributors to the Reddit thread say they are still able to stream videos in some apps, such as Prime Video and Disney+, and from a web browser.
However, it is clear that a large number of devices no longer work. It’s possible that some security certificates (required for wireless hardware connections) have expired or that an update to the Google Home app has permanently broken compatibility with the original Chromecast.
Nothing like this
Looks like Google just killed every Gen 1 Chromecast in existence. How much longer before they start killing off generation 2? from r/Chromecast
Those who were still using their first generation Chromecasts are understandably disappointed to see them stop working. “Rest in peace, buddy,” says one commenter, while many users clearly rely on their original Chromecasts on a regular basis.
Others in the thread suggest that 13 years is a good amount of time, by tech gadget standards, and that Google should be commended for letting it run that long. For now, it appears that the 2nd generation (2015) and 3rd generation (2018) models are still functioning normally.
Chromecasts have now been retired as a category, although the streaming technology lives on in Google TVs and in the Google TV Streamer that Google sells – essentially a Chromecast with a remote and a few extras. You can also get third-party gadgets, including streaming boxes from Walmart, packed with Google TV intelligence.
Even though the eventual end of the first Chromecast was inevitable, it’s worth taking a moment to remember how innovative it was when it launched and how it unlocked access to streaming apps on just about any TV. As we said at the time: “There’s simply nothing like the Google Chromecast.” »
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