Google Opens Chromecast To All Developers

When Google launched its Chromecast HDMI dongle, it only allowed a small set of developers to create applications for it. The company always promised, though, that it would soon open the platform up to all developers. Today, it is doing just that.

The move opens up Chromecast to a whole range of new applications. Until now, unless you wanted to watch Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, Pandora and a handful of other apps, you were out of luck. Now, there’s no reason why Spotify, Facebook, Twitter or any other app wouldn’t add some support for Chromecast as well.

yt-chromecast-mobileDevelopers can now download the Google Cast Software Development Kit and build Chromecast support right into their apps and websites. The company says integrating the SDK is “simple.” Developers do have to pay a $5 registration fee, though, which gives them access to the Google Cast SDK Developer Console so they can register their apps and authorize devices for testing.

Media apps can just use the default Chromecast media player to play back HTML5 media content, or they can customize the player with their own branding. For other apps, developers can create their own custom receiver applications that support standard streaming protocols like MPEG-DASH, HLS and Microsoft Smooth Streaming. To help developers get started, Google has also made a set of sample apps available on GitHub.