For a few weeks now, my usual desk has been packed up, which means replacing my desktop computer, ultra-wide monitor, and ergonomic chair with the laptop and little else. One of the things that I missed the most in this much lighter and minimalist configuration is the screen: I have a 13-inch MacBook Pro M1 and although its panel is quality, I know that it is too small for an eight-hour day. Fortunately, I have a Smart TV and a Chromecast to use as a second auxiliary monitor.
Let’s say that the Smart TV is an entry level from Samsung and that my work ecosystem is that of Apple, but that is not a problem since the Chromecast with Google TV gets along wonderfully. What do I use it for? To launch a tab in my Chrome browser and also for video calls with Google Meet.
In this way, when you are on a work path you can use your computer screen for other tasks and in the browser’s case, on the TV you can have new Google documents for planning, statistics, articles and better designs, among others. other stuff.
With a Chromecast and a Smart TV, I installed a second monitor
Using Chromecast to work is not very complicated: Once we connect it to the HDMI of the Smart TV, we leave it in the foreground on the TV and with the device configured on the network, I just use my computer normally.
Of course and as usual with a Chromecast, it is also possible to play a video from the computer from YouTube, Netflix or local storage and even keep this playback on the TV and continue working with the screen of the computer using the key combinations Alt + Tab for PC or ⌘ +Tab on Mac, but what I do is use it to have one of my tabs works large and takes up the entire TV screen.
As I mentioned above, my tasks boil down to writing articles in an online CMS, searching for information on the Internet, using Google Drive suite, ChatGPT for ideas and texts for debugging, photo editing and nothing else.
I do most of the time via browser and the one I use is Google Chrome, so I just tap the three dots icon in the top right corner and follow the route’Save and share‘ > ‘Send‘ and there you have it, this tab in question will be launched on television. If I’m already viewing another tab, the content is replaced and if we want to stop streaming, I press “Stop Streaming” in the address bar.
Almost every week I have a work video call and this is also where having Chromecast and a Smart TV helps me enormously: if I only used my laptop I wouldn’t be able to do anything other than taking the call since the screen is occupied with my face and that of the other people present, but Since we started videoconferencing with Google Meet, I start them on the TV.
During an open meeting, simply go to the ‘tabSend this meeting‘, which has the classic share icon on Chromecast to be able to view the video call on the auxiliary screen of the TV.
Cover | Enrique Pérez for Xataka (Chromecast analysis with Google TV)
In Xataka Android | There’s More to Chromecast Than It Seems: Seven Unusual Uses
