Take advantage of the Android mobile you have in the drawer: turn it into a Chromecast

You can get a lot of use from an old Android mobile: it can be a baby monitor, a TV remote, a photo frame and also can be converted into a homemade Chromecastif you meet certain conditions.

We tell you how you can convert old mobile to chromecast and what you need to do it. Chromecasts are pretty cheap, yes, but this trick can be used as a temporary fix or workaround at some point.

what are you going to need

First, how are you going to turn mobile into a Chromecast? In the end, these are two devices that look alike between little and nothing. The most important thing is that you are going to need Can be connected to TV with HDMI cable. For this you will need a USB-C to HDMI OTG cable.

Of course, before you jump into buying said cable, keep in mind that not all mobiles support HDMI output. You need mobile to support MHL, a standard that a few years ago seemed poised to take over the world and is now completely out of date. You will find it mainly in high-end mobiles, although it will be difficult for you to be sure without trying it with the cable in use.

There are apps for check if your mobile supports the MHL standard. They are not entirely reliable, but they can help you get an idea. Unfortunately, the list of supported MHL devices is very outdated and this data is rarely mentioned in the mobile datasheet. If in doubt, you should always search on Google if your mobile model supports MHL.

If your mobile supports MHL, then you will need the cable. You need a USB-C to HDMI cable (or Micro USB to HDMI, if your mobile has such a connector). These types of cables are relatively inexpensive, and you can find simple ones for around $13 on Amazon.

Finally, you are missing the software part. For this you should install Cast Receiver app on the mobile that you are going to use as Chromecast. You can try the app for free with its trial version which limits sessions to a maximum of 5 minutes, but if you want to use it without limitation, you will have to buy the premium version: it costs 4.59 dollars.

In summary, this is what you need to turn an old mobile you have at home into a homemade Chromecast. Knowing that a new Chromecast is around $40 and saving you the hassle, it’s more about doing it for the love of science than saving a lot of money with the matter, although it’s cheaper if, for example, you already have cable at home.

• A mobile with Android 4.1 or higher

• Whether the mobile supports the MHL standard

• A USB cable (USB-C or Micro USB) an HDMI

• Install Cast Receiver app on mobile

First, connect it to the TV

If everything is ready, the simplest is connect the mobile to the TV with the cable. You connect the USB-C or MicroUSB end to your mobile and the end with HDMI into an HDMI input on the TV. Then set the TV to display this HDMI input.

If everything went well and your mobile supports video output, then you will see mobile on tv. Depending on your mobile, it may look exactly the same or a special version with some kind of “desktop mode” will be projected.

Then turn it into a Chromecast

The next step is very simple, install the Cast Receiver application on the mobile. The application is very simple because you don’t have to do anything but open it. If you go to its options, you can choose the name of your “chromecast”. If you do nothing, the model name is used.

From then on, your secondary mobile will behave like a Chromecast, so you can connect to it from any other device and send you content. As it is connected to the television with the cable, what you send will also be visible on television.

Keep in mind this won’t work for you with protected content which has DRM, but otherwise it should work like a home Chromecast to go around the house to turn your “dumb” TV into a smart TV.