Photo Cast for Chromecast is your Google flavored AirPlay photo alternative

Posted February 12, 201410 yr

Google recently opened up the SDK to its $35 Chromecast dongle, and for us consumers, that means apps. Developers can hook into the Chromecast going forward to get your apps and content from your iOS device to the biggest screen in your home. It's still early days, but quick out of the gate is Photo Cast for iPhone and iPad.

It's a simple app with a simple purpose; get your photos onto your TV. The iPhone has a pretty fantastic camera, but those great looking photos deserve to be shown off where everyone can see them. That's where this comes in.

You open up Photo Cast and what you see is basically your Camera Roll and any other photo containing folders. Providing you're in the vicinity of a powered up Chromecast, you'll see the standard icon in the top right corner in gray. Getting a photo to the TV is as easy as tapping on your selection and selecting the desired Chromecast from the list that pops up.

And that's it. You should now be seeing your iPhone photos on your TV in all their glory. A couple of things to note, however. Firstly it only supports photographs, no videos. Secondly, there's no slide show or anything like that, you need to choose each photo manually. However, the developer has said this is coming in a future update, which is pretty awesome.

What this app does, it does properly. I had a great time testing this out looking at a bunch of panorama photos on a 40-inch TV. And since Chromecast is so insanely portable, it'd be a great option to take with you to show the family those holiday snaps you took. Oh, and did I mention it's free? If you're rocking a Chromecast, there's no reason not to take a look.