Google Ends Supports for Original Chromecast

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Introduced a decade ago, Chromecast was Google's first successful consumer hardware product

Google
(Image credit: Google)

Ten years after it launched its Chromecast streaming stick, Google has announced that it will no longer support the first generation dongle that retailed for $35. 

According to a notice posted on the Google website at the end of April, "support for Chromecast (1st gen) has ended, which means these devices no longer receive software or security updates, and Google does not provide technical support for them. Users may notice a degradation in performance." 

Chromecast, which unlike its competitors Apple TV and Amazon’s Fire TV Stick TV, simply streamcasted from PCs or laptops to a TV’s HDMI port and did not house streaming apps like Netflix or YouTube. Three generations of Chromecast—the original from 2013 and updates in 2015 (its first 4K version) and 2018—were released and Google reportedly shipped 55 million by 2017.

A new version “Chomecast with Google TV” was launched in 2020 and—like a Fire TV stick, sports its own UI offering the usual lineup of apps and a remote control. That device, which is still supported, runs on the Android TV OS.

Tom Butts
Tom Butts

Tom has covered the broadcast technology market for the past 25 years, including three years handling member communications for the National Association of Broadcasters followed by a year as editor of Video Technology News and DTV Business executive newsletters for Phillips Publishing. In 1999 he launched digitalbroadcasting.com for internet B2B portal Verticalnet. He is also a charter member of the CTA's Academy of Digital TV Pioneers. Since 2001, he has been editor-in-chief of TV Tech (www.tvtech.com), the leading source of news and information on broadcast and related media technology and is a frequent contributor and moderator to the brand’s Tech Leadership events.