Chromecast with Google TV interface and menus

Chromecast with Google TV interface and menus

Google TV draws apps from the Google Play Store, so all your major streaming services including Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV Plus, Amazon Prime Video and ESPN Plus are available with thousands of others.

On the top of the main menu, there are tabs for Search, For You, Live, Movies, Shows, Apps and Library. Subscribers to YouTube TV, Sling TV or Philo will be able to see their channel lineup under the Live tab.

To start getting the most out of recommendations, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the home screen and click on the “Manage services” tab to add streaming services to your recommendations.

Google TV is aiming to give individual recommendations for everyone in a household. Each person can have their own user profiles by adding their Google account to the Chromecast. The upshot? You can have your own watchlist of movies, TV shows and get customized recommendations that are in large part based on your streaming subscriptions.

Parents can create kids profiles, which let you choose which apps children can use, screen time limits and bedtime reminders.

The more you use Chromecast, the more its recommendation engine will figure out whether you are a fan of a specific genre or actor.

The “Top Picks for You” queue is the first section you will see under the home screen. My current picks on Chromecast include a few recommendations coming from Sling TV followed by mysteries and thrillers from Hulu, Prime Video and Tubi TV.

Below those recommendations are a lineup of streaming apps such as Netflix and HBO Max that you can put in any order you like. There is a Continue Watching tab so you can easily jump back into a TV show or movie that you stopped before it ended.

Google TV’s approach to streaming is completely opposite to a Roku menu, which is known for its grid of apps. Amazon Fire TV has updated its menus within the last year, which shows more recommendations from a number of apps. But movies and shows from Prime Video and its other service Freevee are still at the forefront of Fire TV’s recommendations.

Google Chromecast Remote

The remote control included with the Chromecast functions as a universal remote that controls your TV power and volume.

Two AAA batteries included in the box is a small touch that really makes the overall value proposition of this Google device stand out. 

The remote adds premium features to your old TV such as voice commands with Google Assistant, and universal search of movies and TV shows from all your streaming subscriptions. 

The remote is palm-sized, and has the typical navigation wheel at the top to help you traverse menus of streaming apps and movie thumbnails. The volume rocker is on the upper right side of the remote. It is located where your thumb would naturally rest if you held the remote in your fingers or palm.

There is a mute button, and dedicated launch buttons for Netflix and YouTube.

Google Assistant allows you to do more than just find something to watch. You can control playback of videos, get local weather reports and sports scores.

You can use Google Assistant to get an idea when live sports such as MLB or NBA games will be on TV. By pressing the Assistant button and asking, “When is the next baseball game?”, I got a screen outlining all games happening in the next 24 or so hours. My only gripe is that there was no information about what TV channel these games were on.

https://cordcuttingreport.com/