Have a Google Home smart speaker and a Chromecast? Then you can talk to the speaker to play music or videos on any Cast-enabled device. “OK Google, Play Game of Thrones” beams it to your TV, or “OK Google, play Tom Petty on my Living Room speakers” should send music to your ChromeCast audio device.
But up until recently, you couldn’t do the same thing from your phone. Now you can.
As noticed by Android Police, Chromecast support is now up and running in the Google Assistant app for phones. In addition to allowing you to choose which Cast-enabled device you want to send media to, the app allows you to use your phone to control playback by voice.
Want to pause a video, fast forward, skip songs, or adjust the volume? You can just talk to your phone.
That could give you one less reason to spend money on a smart speaker… but even if you already have a Google Home device or two in your household, the update should make it easier to interact with your Chromecast gadgets when you’re not within range of a speaker.