When Google first launched the Chromecast back in 2013 people scratched their heads and wondered just how useful this little HDMI stick was going to be. As 2013 came to a close and 2014 took off however, more and more partners came on board with the Cast API and the little logo we know and love is in the majority of entertainment apps that we use. It took Google a long time, but they finally introduced a new Chromecast this year, with a slightly new design and better network performance for streaming info from the net. They also introduced the Chromecast Audio, a way to upgrade your own HiFi or speaker setup in the same way that the original Chromecast made a dumb TV smart.
The Chromecast Audio works great for users of Google Play Music, Spotify and many others, but if you want to cast absolutely anything to your newly-intelligent speakers or HiFi using Chromecast Audio, you’ll need to put a little work in. Thankfully, this involves but a couple installations on both Windows or Mac computers. Those running a Windows PC will need to download Chromecast Audio Stream from GitHub. Installation is pretty simple, you just need to download the ZIP file at the foot of the repo and open her up. Mac OS X users need a little more installation however, and they’ll need to install Soundflower and then Soundcast.
These little programs are more than just the official Chromecast extension for the Chrome browser as they allow you to cast absolutely any and all system audio from your computer to your Chromecast Audio. This would be beneficial to someone that is using formats not supported on Android, or just looking for a way to play their music libraries without the need of a smartphone or tablet. Setting both of these apps up should be pretty simple for the majority of users, and it will allow them to squeeze a little more functionality out of the small little puck.