YouTube Music rolls out native Cast support on the web [Update: Now available]

Abner Li | Nov 30 2021 - 6:40 pm PT

While the YouTube Music web app is undoubtedly more feature-complete than the Android TV experience housed in the main app, it still lacks native Cast integration. That fortunately appears to be changing.

Update 11/30: Nearly two months after it was first spotted, native Cast integration in the YouTube Music web app/site is now widely rolled out. Instead of casting the entire tab/video, you’re just sending the audio stream to Home/Nest/Assistant. Google identifies the device being casted to in the top-right corner.

Original 10/5: Users that want to stream songs from music.youtube.com to Smart Displays, speakers, and Chromecast setups today have to use Chrome’s built-in Cast menu. It’s fine on Nest Mini and other audio-only devices, but Casting to a Nest Hub means you send over the entire browser tab. It’s awkward with no on-device interactivity possible, while closing the mirror automatically stops playback.

This is because Cast is not built-in to YouTube Music’s web client. For example, YouTube.com lets you stream just the video window to other devices.

That is now changing, with at least two users on Reddit seeing a Cast button in the top-right corner of the website next to their profile avatar. Tapping lets you select a device, and YouTube Music will name what you’ve selected.

It’s a much more efficient approach and long overdue. A wider rollout is hopefully coming soon, while the YouTube Music website has also been testing the handy “Related” tab (from mobile) in the Now Playing UI. Other users have also seen the Song/Video switcher.