![]() ![]() ![]() Initially, it’s easy to miss the presence of a dedicated remote control and curse the need to unlock your phone and navigate around a touch screen just to change what’s playing, or to run a different app. The need to control the Chromecast from a separate smart device is both its best and worst feature. What is the difference between User Experience? Apple TV vs Google Chromecast Using Google Chromecast More than ever, it’s a very real alternative to Apple TV – though of course, if you’ve already got content you’ve bought on Apple’s iTunes movie and TV stores, or if you use Apple’s TV+ streaming service, at the moment you can’t access any of that on Google’s new Chromecast. While an Apple TV 4K starts at $249, Google’s new Chromecast, with its support for 4K, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and more, costs just $99. It’s a very, very capable device – and the really good news is the price. It’ll even let you control cameras, lights and other smart home devices from your TV using your voice, similar to the way Apple’s HomeKit does on Apple TV. The remote control has a built-in microphone – just like Apple’s Siri remote – and a button to let you issue commands or ask questions via Google Assistant. This lets you download apps to the Chromecast from Google’s app store in the same way you would do so on an Apple TV, and you can browse apps on-screen the same way as well. Now, Google’s little streaming dongle comes with a remote control, and has its own on-screen user interface that’s based on the latest version of Android TV (the operating system used by most Sony TVs, as well as some streaming devices like the Foxtel Now box). With the release of the new Chromecast with Google TV in October 2020, though, the game has changed – and so has the comparison with Apple TV. They didn’t run apps at all, relying on you downloading the apps you use to your own devices first, then sending video to the Chromecast over your wi-fi network. Google’s 2020 Chromecast – A Different Storyįor over half a decade since it first launched, the various models of Chromecast have all been exactly as described above – small devices that plug into a spare HDMI port and let you stream to them from your phone, tablet or PC. But to appreciate it, you’ve got to be willing to accept a complete change from the usual way of doing things - a change where your smartphone doubles as a remote control, with all the extra complexity that brings. There’s innate flexibility with Google’s way of doing things that Apple can’t quite match. It doesn’t run “apps” in the way we usually know them - instead, you run the apps on your smartphone or tablet, and use them to control playback on the device.īut what seems like an unfair fight is actually not so black and white. Its smarts are all packed into a tiny plastic dongle that hides behind your TV and feeds it video. Google’s device is very different - and is still almost unique in its simplicity. Apple’s is a conventional tiny black box, designed as a “source device” for your TV in much the same way that a pay-TV box or a PVR might be - you interface with the box via an on-screen interface, and get it to run a variety of apps for you to do the stuff you want to do. ![]() For starters, we’re talking about two very different kinds of streaming devices here. On the surface, it would seem to be a somewhat unfair face-off - and a slightly more complex one than usual. But in a world which now has many other stand-alone device options - as well as smart TVs that can do it all - how do these two classics measure up? And are they still worth buying? Apple TV vs Google Chromecast These are the two veterans of the home TV streaming world - classic devices that have taken on all challengers and still managed to stay at the top of their game as go-to options for anyone wanting to get the streaming video onto their big-screen TV. What are the differences between Apple TV and Google Chromecast? ![]()
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