Bad news for first generation Chromecast users, as Google announced that it will stop supporting these devices. It was 10 years since the arrival in 2013 of the first Chromecast, the popular device and one of Google’s most successful products.
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The search engine company announced that first-generation devices will no longer receive software and security updates. The last update was made in November 2022 to fix some issues, and such seems to be the last one for this type of Chromecast.
The reasons for this decision have to do with the fact that these are devices that have become obsolete in the face of the arrival of the second and third generation Chromecast that emerged later. New functions were included according to requirements, so that the first generation Chromecast no longer responded as adequately to the needs of the market.
This is not the first time that Google has discontinued products that it considers obsolete. This has already happened with Google Duo or Youtube Go.
What does it mean when support for first-generation Chromecast is discontinued?
Google’s decision to no longer provide updates was announced on the Chromecast support website with the following message: “Support for Chromecast (1st generation) has ended, which means that these devices no longer receive software or security updates, and Google is no longer providing technical support for them. Users may notice a degradation in performance.”
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In short, first generation Chromecast devices will no longer have technical support such as security patches, bug fixes or system updates. As Google clarifies, this may affect the performance of the device, although it can still be used. Performance degradation is likely to be gradual, so users of these devices have time to upgrade to more modern options. Perhaps from now on you will begin to experience outages or restarts, as it has been several months since the last update.
What are the functions of the first generation Chromecast?
It is one of Google’s most successful products. It was launched in 2013 and caused a revolution due to the novelty of the product. It is used for streaming content from a mobile device such as tablets or smartphones to a TV. In this way, it allows you to watch movies, YouTube videos or streamings on TVs that do not have smart features. The device has a particular pendrive style shape, easy to install and use.
Those who still have first-generation Chromecasts can continue to use them on TVs with older operating systems or with less demanding requirements.
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For those looking to upgrade their Chromecast, there are second and third generation options, an Audio and an Ultra version and there is even a version with Google TV with Android Tv streaming. All of these versions include new features and enhancements to address new technology requirements and compete with Roku and Fire TV.
