It’s been a big week for Google fans so far, and there’s still a whole lot more to come. The majority of fans will no doubt be looking forward to when they can get their hands on the new Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, but Google announced a number of significant changes that are coming to Android and Google products as a whole. The Google Home speaker is set to revolutionize the way that we control our connected devices, as well as help us get through the day a little easier, but it’s also taking out the Google Cast app with it. Reports are coming in that, after Google’s October 4th event, the Google Cast app is letting users know that the app is changing to become the “Google Home” app.
Users that are seeing the message will be told that the change will happen in “the next few weeks”, which lines up nicely with the launch of the new Chromecast Ultra as well as the Google Home speaker itself. The message simply says that the Google Cast app will become the Google Home app, and that the app and icon will also change a long with it. It makes sense for Google to consolidate things like this, as there’s little sense in making even more apps that all essentially do the same thing. A Google Cast and a Google Home app could become confusing for users, but one app that does everything appears to be more in line with what Google is looking to go for these days. This isn’t the first time the app has changed, as it morphed from the Chromecast app to the Google Cast app some time ago, in order to correspond with devices supporting Google Cast audio. Whether or not these devices will be marketed as “Google Home compatible” from now on remains to be seen.
Little changes like these appear to be insignificant, but making sure your ecosystem is furnished with simple and easily-understood apps is important and with their event on October 4th, it’s pretty clear that Google wants to make their products as easy-to-use as they possibly can be.
