Google TV stick: This is how Chromecast works
With Google’s Chromecast TV stick, you can stream a variety of multimedia content from your PC or smartphone to your TV. We'll show you how it works.
Step 1: Connect Google TV stick
Google’s Chromecast is currently officially only available in the United States. You can still get it for around 40 euros on Amazon. But soon the TV stick will also appear in Germany.
- Once you have received the stick, connect it to your TV via HDMI. A small extension is included in the delivery, should the stick not fit directly on the TV.
- Also connect the supplied USB cable and plug the power adapter into the socket. If you have imported the device, you also need a German power plug. The power adapter of an iPhone is also suitable, for example.
Step 2: install Chromecast
Once the stick is plugged in and connected to the power, the installation can begin:
- Switch to the correct HDMI source on the TV to access the stick.
- The home screen now shows the following link that you can use to install Chromecast on your devices. No official apps are yet available for the German Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. However, you can download an extension via the Chrome browser on your PC, which will then be integrated into the browser.
- The stick then connects to your computer and thus recognizes your WLAN. Enter the network key in the browser extension so Chromecast can connect to the Internet.
- Once this has been done, an update for the stick is downloaded and installed. Your television is then "ready to cast".
Step 3: use Chromecast
Unfortunately, Chromecast is not yet able to stream a lot of content in Germany. The video portals Netflix and Hulu are not accessible in Germany, so you only have the Google services for now. This includes YouTube videos as well as music and videos from the Google Play Store. Multimedia content from other websites is currently rarely supported. The video portal Watchever already seems to work.
- For example, if you are on a website like YouTube with your computer, the browser extension immediately recognizes the video content. At the bottom right of the video window, another button is shown next to the full screen button. It will stream the video to Chromecast and your TV.
- You can also send the video to Chromecast in the top right corner of the YouTube app. The playback is then transferred to the television. If you wish, you can stop or end the transfer on the iPhone. Once Chromecast has a connection to the content, auxiliary devices such as computers or smartphones are no longer required.
- Currently there are still a few problems: If you change the quality in the middle of a video or switch to full-screen mode, the picture usually starts to jerk, the stream stops or stops completely.