HBO MAX launched yesterday and while it does have the ability to Cast to your TV or other devices, you can’t use Google Assistant to do so.
The functionality was available for HBO Now users, but that has also gone away with the launch of HBO MAX. It’s unclear whether or not the option will come back in the future, but it is likely.
What does this mean for users?
It basically means that you can’t Cast on Google Assistant devices like a smart display. But you can still Cast to your TV which runs either Chromecast, Roku or Android TV.
This doesn’t affect a whole lot of people, since most people were likely watching HBO MAX on their TV anyways, when using Cast. And not on a tiny 7-inch smart display. But the functionality was nice to have.
Now, Google does still list HBO Now as an option for Casting via Google Assistant, but does have a note regarding how this is going to work: “Current HBO NOW subscribers billed directly through HBO get access to HBO Max at launch at no additional cost. Currently, HBO Max does not support voice casting.”
The way Google worded that statement, it sounds like HBO MAX may actually be supported at some point down the line. But it’s unclear when or if that’ll happen.
HBO Now and HBO MAX are expected to merge actually, into one single service. Since it doesn’t make a lot of sense to buy HBO Now and not get HBO MAX, seeing as they are the same, and HBO MAX offers a lot more content. Essentially the entire WarnerMedia library. For the same $15/month.
Another oversight by AT&T on launch day
This is just another oversight by AT&T on HBO MAX launch day.
We found out yesterday that HBO MAX is not available on two of the biggest TV platforms out there. That’s Roku and Amazon Fire TV. Roku is obviously the bigger issue here, as it is the biggest platform available right now. But HBO MAX is likely going to be coming to both platforms in the future. Luckily with Roku, you can still Cast to your TV, since Roku does support Cast. Amazon Fire TV does too, with some trickery.
And now we’re learning that you can’t use Cast with Google Assistant for HBO MAX. Hopefully that is something that WarnerMedia and AT&T will fix in the near future though.