Google Cast is the protocol that lets you stream internet media to a TV or speaker plugged into a Chromecast. You can use Google Cast with Android or iOS phones or tablets. And you can also use it with the Chrome web browser: just find an online video you want to stream, for instance, and hit an icon to send it to your TV.
Up until recently you’ve needed to install a Google Cast extension for Chrome to use the feature in a web browser. But now Google has announced that Cast is baked into Chrome. No plugins or extensions required.
When you visit a website that supports Cast, you should see a “sender” icon that only appears if you’re connected to the same network as your Chromecast device. Don’t have a Chromecast? You won’t see the icon.
But if you do have a Chromecast, you should be able to hit a button to send audio or video to the device. Most of the time what this will do is stream content straight from the internet to your Chromecast: you can close the web page or shut off your computer and audio or video will keep playing. But if you do keep the browser tab open, you can pause, skip tracks, or perform other actions using the media playback buttons.
There’s also an option to cast an entire web page to a Chromecast if you’re on a page that doesn’t natively support Cast. Just open the Chrome menu and look for a “Cast” option.