For those who haven't heard this yet, latest Chromecast update breaks playing local content

[Farish]

Plus post from Koush.

https://plus.google.com/110558071969009568835/posts/ZeHgRXS6AZs

If this turns to be the case from Google, they have taken a lot of potential from this device. I had already came up with an idea to market and sell this device for certain scenarios and this may stop that from its tracks.

This makes me sad as this device had the potential to be much much more than just a streaming device.

 

[Devlyn16]

I'll just put this here before commenting

What the Chromecast is - and isn't | Android Central

This device still has plenty of potential. Just because Google made changes that Blocked the path Koush reverse engineered doesnt mean similar, but controlable, paths won't be opened by Google in the future.

 

[mzanette]

Google has responded to the Verge asking about this and they say local playback of files will be supported once the SDK is finalized. In the update at the bottom of the article: Google blocks Chromecast app that let you stream your own videos (update) | The Verge

We?re excited to bring more content to Chromecast and would like to support all types of apps, including those for local content. It's still early days for the Google Cast SDK, which we just released in developer preview for early development and testing only. We expect that the SDK will continue to change before we launch out of developer preview, and want to provide a great experience for users and developers before making the SDK and additional apps more broadly available.

 

[anon(847090)]

Google has responded to the Verge asking about this and they say local playback of files will be supported once the SDK is finalized. In the update at the bottom of the article: Google blocks Chromecast app that let you stream your own videos (update) | The Verge

awesome! what happened to all those experts who were bashing before knowing the truth

 

[mzanette]

awesome! what happened to all those experts who were bashing before knowing the truth

Nothing is set in stone until that SDK is released. A better question would be "when is Google going to officially release the SDK so we can start getting great apps added onto the Chromecast?" I have high hopes for this little dongle, can't wait to get mine.

 

[Farish]

Nothing is set in stone until that SDK is released. A better question would be "when is Google going to officially release the SDK so we can start getting great apps added onto the Chromecast?" I have high hopes for this little dongle, can't wait to get mine.

Honestly it will be a little while now. The Chromecast was sprung on everybody and now with developers Google will get more feedback about this.

 

[Devlyn16]

Honestly it will be a little while now. The Chromecast was sprung on everybody and now with developers Google will get more feedback about this.

I'm thinking Google wil want to have apps for this in time for Chrismtas shopping, assuming they can ever meet the current demand.

 

[mzanette]

I'm thinking Google wil want to have apps for this in time for Chrismtas shopping, assuming they can ever meet the current demand.

When they announced it July I was hoping they'd have stuff finalized by now. Imagine the back to school rush with college kids picking this up for their dorm rooms, missed opportunity.

 

[gabbott]

I'll just throw this in here:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/110558071969009568835/posts/6D7nzni4rDf

 

[Ry]

It breaks streaming local from the Chrome desktop browser too, right?

 

[anon(847090)]

It breaks streaming local from the Chrome desktop browser too, right?

nope. just the work around(api still doesn't support it) that some app dev used to stream local media content.

 

[Ry]

nope. just the work around(api still doesn't support it) that some app dev used to stream local media content.

Interesting. I'll have to check this out again tonight. MP4s that played in the Chrome browser weren't casting to the TV.

 

[ALCingularUser]

When they announced it July I was hoping they'd have stuff finalized by now. Imagine the back to school rush with college kids picking this up for their dorm rooms, missed opportunity.

Actually, missing that opportunity may have been a good thing. Many universities use campus-wide wireless networks that won't work with Chromecast. The same is true for many large student apartment complexes. This would have been a huge headache all around.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Mikey47]

When they announced it July I was hoping they'd have stuff finalized by now. Imagine the back to school rush with college kids picking this up for their dorm rooms, missed opportunity.

Most college kids won't be able to use these in their dorm rooms due to the way most college Wi-Fi networks are set up.

But I agree, wish it says further along, but then again prior to the announcement nobody knew anything about it.

 

[baldbear]

Most college kids won't be able to use these in their dorm rooms due to the way most college Wi-Fi networks are set up.

But I agree, wish it says further along, but then again prior to the announcement nobody knew anything about it.

One could get another wireless router and set up a local wifi, problem solved.

 

[ALCingularUser]

One could get another wireless router and set up a local wifi, problem solved.

Not necessarily. I can tell you that the University of Alabama doesn't allow wireless routers on its campus network and will shut off Internet access to them if they're detected. You can have one whitelisted, but you need to justify to OIT why it needs to be there.

I suspect many other universities have similar policies.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[NoYankees44]

One could get another wireless router and set up a local wifi, problem solved.

Nope. Networks block them.

O the horrible things campus networks are these days. No routers, one devise at a time. Horrible speed.

At least this is my experience...

 

[mzanette]

This developer here is saying that local playback works fine if you use Googe's approved method of coding it. The only reason Kousch's app was broken was due to the fact he was trying to reverse engineer some code and was casting local content with some hack.

https://plus.google.com/115795729809263652507/posts/ZKGKQuTwrr2

In the comments section some nice posts:

Cristian Medina

The difference is AllCast was essentially using a reverse engineered backdoor method of casting. Whereas using receivers is the method that Google wants developers to pursue, per their documentation. Turning off the ability to do this using a receiver would have A LOT of other consequences, that would make the product not very useful.

I do see your point that they can change anything at anytime, but that warning is clearly stated in several pages of the API documentation. It is in preview mode, not in production, so use at own risk.

Cristian Medina

You have to make a receiver app. That's what Google documentation says. Since you write that code, you can make it do whatever you want it to do with anything that's available in the network.

Cristian Medina

I'd like to publish quickly as well, but when I snooped the network traffic, it was really obvious that it would take very little for Google to break that interface. So I went ahead with a receiver instead... It's their ecosystem, if they had left it open then they would have a lot less control over it.

Cristian Medina
All I know is that the changes to the 'video_playback' receiver app do not mean that local video casting is impossible. I have no idea how the news turned out to be what it is, I just want to communicate the facts as I know them.

 

[ALCingularUser]

Nope. Networks block them.

O the horrible things campus networks are these days. No routers, one devise at a time. Horrible speed.

At least this is my experience...

As far as speed goes, UA's network is pretty fast. The limiting factor is more about how good your connection is. I haven't run any speed tests on the wired and wireless networks lately, but bandwidth is definitely not an issue.

As for blocking unapproved routers, it's done here because of the large number of AP's the university has on campus. The goal has been to blanket all campus buildings with enough AP's for everyone. The problem is that you have a large number of people and wireless devices in a relatively small area, to the point that AP's can easily become overloaded. The only way to deal with that is to increase the number of AP's, but, to do that, you have to carefully balance the power of each one so they aren't stepping on each other. Having a bunch of AP's not under your control broadcasting in that area can play havoc with what you're trying to do.

I can't speak for other schools, but I know the people who manage the UA wireless network, and they aren't trying to ruin anyone's Internet experience; they're just trying to run a network that works as well as it can.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Farish]

Nope. Networks block them.

O the horrible things campus networks are these days. No routers, one devise at a time. Horrible speed.

At least this is my experience...

Back in my day not only we had to walk to our classroom uphill in the snow both ways, but we had to dial in over the phone line to get into our school network.