The past week has been full of ups and downs for those of us who love Chromecast: on the one hand, Google announced its ambitious Google TV Streamer and on the other, we confirmed that the arrival of this more premium model also meant goodbye to Chromecast with Google TV, as the Mountain View-based company plans. stop selling your successful tv dongles.
So, as soon as the Google TV Streamer goes on sale, Chromecasts with Google TV will be discontinued. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re completely abandoned (although they do work): Google will continue to provide software updates like Android 14.
Android 14 TV is coming to Chromecasts, but limited
While the Made by Google event saw the new Google Pixel 9 and its brand new TV set-top box, Android Authority reports that it was able to speak with several Google TV product managers about the new device and the features Android TV 14 will include. And as interesting as that information is, the arrival of this update on other devices like the old Chromecastbut in a cropped way.
In short: this There will be an update for Chromecast with Google TV but it won’t have all the new features. An example: the Thread protocol which allows the device to function as a hub, if the device does not have the necessary hardware, it obviously will not be able to function in this way.
Actually Google launching Android 14 for its Chromecast is no surpriseconsidering that it had already committed to providing software and security updates when it announced its intention to kill Chromecasts. In fact, the timeline is as follows: the Chromecast with Google TV 4K will receive security updates until the end of September 2025, and the Chromecast with Google TV HD will do the same until the end of September 2027.
If we go through their versions, the 4K model arrived with Android TV 10 and then received an update to Android TV 12 while the HD was launched with Android TV 12, so the update with Android TV 14 would be its second and first major update respectively. Yes indeed, We do not know when these updates will arrive on your dongles..
Cover | Enrique Pérez (Xataka)
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