Casting From Within A Music App vs. Google Home App?

[tmann202]

I just set up my new Chromecast Audio, using it on my home stereo system (receiver) and casting from an Android phone. I noticed that I can cast the same music from either within a music app (Spotify for example) or from the Home app with the "Cast screen/audio" function in the Home menu (NOT talking about pressing the app logo in Home that brings you to the music app). Anyone know what the differences are?

I know there is a difference since for one thing it is louder from the Spotify app (and Spotify does not have it's own internal volume control), and also the Spotify streaming quality settings and equalizer are blocked when casting from Spotify but are accessible when casting from the Home app.

- Do they both stream from the wifi, or does using the "Cast screen/audio" cause the cast to come from the phone?(Which would explain the high battery drain after testing this, switching back and forth between casting from Spotify and casting from "Cast screen/audio" in Home)

- Is the cast quality different depending on whether you cast from the music app or from the Home app?

- Do the Spotify settings including equalizer affect the sound when casting? If so, why are they accessible when casting from the Home app and not from within Spotify? (If Home streams from phone, this would explain it.)

- Will phone battery drain be different depending on which app I cast from? (again, IF Home streams from the phone, there would be a difference.

- Any other info on the differences?

 

[tmann202]

To answer my own question in case anyone else was wondering about this - here is a response I got on the Google help forum. Turns out I was correct that using "Cast screen/audio" causes the stream to come from your phone, and casting from the app brings it to the Chromecast from the internet.

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Chromecast is a cloud-based service. So, if you cast directly from a cast-ready app such as Spotify, Netflix, or Youtube, you're actually bringing the content straight from the Internet to your TV as opposed to the TV getting content from your phone. In this case, your phone is merely acting as the remote control and is not actually casting the content to your TV.

When you're using the Android Cast Screen feature, you're mirroring what you're seeing on your Android device to your TV. This is why certain settings are available when mirroring your phone and unavailable when casting directly from the app. Changing the equalizer settings (in addition to some other audio settings) are unavailable on Spotify when casting.

As for quality, casting directly from the cast-ready app will likely exhibit "better quality" compared to mirroring your content, because mirroring requires a lot more processing before reaching your Chromecast device. Hence, mirroring will cause faster battery drainage.

Hope this clears things up.
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