Chromecast

Google has updated the original Chromecast for the first time in over three years

Kyle Bradshaw | Nov 28 2022 - 11:44 am PT

In a new batch of Chromecast updates, Google has released new firmware for the first-generation Chromecast for the first time in years.

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Since 2013, Google has offered the Chromecast series as a way to affordably turn any TV into a smart TV, connected to apps on your Android or iOS phone. As Google’s Cast system is primarily built on web tech, those original Chromecast devices — meaning those that aren’t built on Google TV — don’t receive frequent updates.

This is especially true for the original Chromecast, which is now nine years old, well beyond the expected lifetime of a $35 gadget. To that end, it’s been over three years since Google last updated the firmware of that first-generation Chromecast.

According to Google’s support page, the 2013 Chromecast is being updated to version 1.36.159268 (up from 1.36.157768). Judging from the minimal change to the version number, it’s likely that very little will actually be different for those still holding on to that original dongle.

In the same batch of updates, Google also released new firmware for the 3rd generation Chromecast, first launched in 2018. This new firmware brings a similarly minimal bump to 1.56.291998 (from 1.56.275994), suggesting little will have changed. The previous update for this device was launched in April of this year.

Meanwhile, the same support page says that the built-in Chromecast support for Android TV has been updated from version 1.42.179832 — released in 2020 — all the way to 1.56.292394. That said, Chromecast support on Android TV and Google TV devices seem to have been updated far more steadily than the support page suggests, with even newer versions having launched in recent weeks.

For all three of the new Chromecast updates, Google simply lists “Bug fixes and improvements” in the release notes.