Android By Russell Holly Mar. 17, 2014 4:01 pm
As we move slowly towards fully connected homes, apps are going to be a big part of what makes everything play together nicely. In order to get there, we need to start answering questions regarding how we want the technology around us to behave. MyCastScreen is the first real step towards making your TV work for you in the mornings.
The homescreen for Google’s Chromecast is a beautiful rotating photo galley. It looks nice, and you can have it just kind of sit there and wait to receive instructions from any of what is now hundreds of Chromecast apps. Unfortunately, it’s not particularly useful in that position — it doesn’t offer you any information aside from the time or give you any reason to do more than just glance up at it and see something pretty. MyCastScreen grabs a handful of tools and throws them together to replace your homescreen with content that makes the Chromecast useful when it’s in a resting state.
The MyCastScreen Android app is incredibly basic. You punch in your ZIP code and select an RSS feed of choice.*The app takes this information and rebuilds your Chromecast screen with relevant information. Local traffic, time, weather, and a scrolling RSS feed with large text so it can be read from across the room with no hassle. It’s the perfect setup to offer a glimpse at what you would normally look at several apps on your phone to get before heading off to work in the morning, or as you come home at the end of the day.
There’s plenty of room for this app to grow and improve, but it’s an impressive start. The rotating wallpapers in the background still keep the screen active, so you could leave this up in an office all day if that’s where your Chromecast lives. MyCastScreen is $0.99 in the Google Play Store, and while it’s in real need of some polish the price is hard to argue with.
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The homescreen for Google’s Chromecast is a beautiful rotating photo galley. It looks nice, and you can have it just kind of sit there and wait to receive instructions from any of what is now hundreds of Chromecast apps. Unfortunately, it’s not particularly useful in that position — it doesn’t offer you any information aside from the time or give you any reason to do more than just glance up at it and see something pretty. MyCastScreen grabs a handful of tools and throws them together to replace your homescreen with content that makes the Chromecast useful when it’s in a resting state.
The MyCastScreen Android app is incredibly basic. You punch in your ZIP code and select an RSS feed of choice.*The app takes this information and rebuilds your Chromecast screen with relevant information. Local traffic, time, weather, and a scrolling RSS feed with large text so it can be read from across the room with no hassle. It’s the perfect setup to offer a glimpse at what you would normally look at several apps on your phone to get before heading off to work in the morning, or as you come home at the end of the day.
There’s plenty of room for this app to grow and improve, but it’s an impressive start. The rotating wallpapers in the background still keep the screen active, so you could leave this up in an office all day if that’s where your Chromecast lives. MyCastScreen is $0.99 in the Google Play Store, and while it’s in real need of some polish the price is hard to argue with.
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