Google forcibly obsoleting older ChromeCast models for Youtube Premium members

[D1m3b4g]

Just wondering if anyone has been affected by or is following the complete and utter anti-consumer shambles of Google forcibly removing YouTube sign-in functionality from CC models it is still openly selling.

 

The TL;DR is, Google have forcibly removed the ability for users to login to the YouTube interface on non Google-TV generation CC devices, including CC ultras, whilst still selling them.

The net result is people who have paid for a potentially brand new and still perfectly functional CC device AND pay for a YouTube premium account are now stuck being served Ads onto the device until they bin it and pay for a brand new CC with Google TV.

 

A news article ran here

https://piunikaweb.com/2022/07/11/some-google-chromecast-users-say-they-are-unable-to-sign-into-youtube/

 

Main Google Nest community post that started it all - 

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Chromecast/I-m-getting-ads-on-YouTube-when-casting-to-Chromecast-2nd/m-p/216474

 

Reddit thread here - 

 

The forum assistants on the site are still sticking to the story that the "Team are aware" and a "fix is incoming", but other sources have emerged on Twitter where members of the product team have confirmed this is entirely by design. The feature that allowed users to sign in has been disabled, prematurely obsoleting perfectly working hardware (in my case, 4k HDR capable) in the most anti-consumer way possible.

 

My experience of the Ad situation has been varied. If I cast from the YT app on my phone, which is signed in, a lot of the time I won't get ads. Sometimes I still do however and it's painful.
What you absolutely can be assured of is if you use the CC natively, with the in built UI and remote control facility, there is no way to sign in and you will be served Ads.

 

I personally have 5 CC ultra devices in my house. To re-purchase 5 new devices with Google TV and use my YT premium sub, plus the added adapters I would require to connect them via ethernet would cost me £500.

The line from most people on the thread above, in sometimes quite a blunt way ( four letter words ) is Google can go F themselves and people are now looking to bin Google products entirely, and to be honest, I don't blame them. They're attempting to "do a Sonos" with no backpedaling in sight.
 

[BondiBlue]

Things like this are the reason I don't like these types of products. I bought a Chromecast right when they were first released, and I ended up retiring that original CC after only a couple years of use. It was ridiculously slow to use, and that almost put me off of them entirely. I did end up getting a second generation when they were launched in 2015, but I never ended up using it very much. It worked much better than the original one, but it was still a clunky experience. I don't want to have to use a mobile phone to control my TV. It was handy to have, but these days I just don't want to mess with it. 

 

I can absolutely see this as something that Google would do. I personally never tried signing into YouTube directly on the Chromecast itself (I always just casted things individually), but I would be mad if I couldn't sign in any longer. 

[LAwLz]

I don't really understand what is going on here.

A ChromeCast is a device you control from your phone, right? You start the Youtube app on your phone, and then "cast" the video to a ChromeCast so that it plays on the TV.

Why would you be signed in to Youtube on the ChromeCast? You're already signed in on your phone.

 

To me, the ChromeCast is a passive "slave" device controlled by your phone. It doesn't make sense that login credentials are handled by the passive device rather than the master device.

Is the whole "run the Youtube app on a ChromeCast" some new addition? I only briefly used the first gen ChromeCast when it was released and I never had any apps on it. It was just something I controlled 100% through my phone.

 

I have always through of the ChromeCast as a passive device you control from your phone, and if you want to run apps and do things like sign in and stuff, you got a ChromeCast with Google TV. The thing that runs Android TV, has an app store etc. 

[D1m3b4g]

"I don't really understand what is going on here."

Go read the links then. The post (I hoped) makes it kinda clear what is going on. 

[Lightwreather]

20 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Why would you be signed in to Youtube on the ChromeCast? You're already signed in on your phone.

TO put in a better way, a few months or so ago, Google basically brought the Youtube app to chrome cast, however you'd still need to start casting from YouTube on your phone. Why they'd do this? I have no idea. 

https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/3/22816424/youtube-chromecast-update-phone-remote-control

It was fun while it lasted.

btw, Premium benefits still apply if you're signed in on the phone/device being casted from (At least according to this article on the verge). So this is essentially a non-issue

[Donut417]

This is why I just connect my MacBook Pro to my TV and stream everything from that. 

[bluesummer]

Yet another reason Google sucks, stay away y'all

 

No shade to any smart TV owners but I've never seen the point... an HTPC would be controlled by YOU, allowing issues like these to not occur and would also allow for a suite of other versatile features, a big one being gaming, especially emulation.

[Arika]

56 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

This is why I just connect my MacBook Pro to my TV and stream everything from that. 

My NAS pulls double duty as my HTPC. i have a "smart" TV, but it's never going to be connected to the internet. fuck that

[D1m3b4g]

On 8/13/2022 at 7:42 AM, Lightwreather JfromN said:

TO put in a better way, a few months or so ago, Google basically brought the Youtube app to chrome cast, however you'd still need to start casting from YouTube on your phone. Why they'd do this? I have no idea. 

https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/3/22816424/youtube-chromecast-update-phone-remote-control

It was fun while it lasted.

btw, Premium benefits still apply if you're signed in on the phone/device being casted from (At least according to this article on the verge). So this is essentially a non-issue

Except it is an issue when that randomly fails and ads start being played to people using their phones on YT premium subs. Like me, and countless others who have experienced it and reported it in the nest thread.