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This week’s top stories: YouTube nerfs Chromecast app, Android 13 Beta 4, more

Kyle Bradshaw | Jul 16 2022 - 10:30 am PT

In this week’s top stories: YouTube takes away functionality from its Chromecast app, the likely final version of Android 13 Beta releases, Chromecast with Google TV gets an update, and more.

Last year, YouTube on early Chromecast devices gained an app-like experience, complete with sign in and browsing, all navigated via a remote on your phone. In a surprise turn, YouTube’s Chromecast experience has been downgraded to its earlier state, with Google confirming that this change is “intentional.”

In a tweet on June 16, YouTube casually confirmed that sign-in is no longer supported on legacy Chromecast devices. Users can still watch videos and control the session using their phone, but the “app” experience on Chromecast does not allow sign-in.

[A Google] specialist also explained that YouTube Premium subscribers must use the older experience, not the newer app, if they wish to watch videos without ads, as they pay monthly for this privilege.

According to Google, we’re “just a few weeks away” from Android 13 being released, and as part of one final bug-squashing effort, the company released Android 13 Beta 4 for Pixel phones this week. The build is also intended for Android developers to ensure their apps will still function as expected once Android 13 becomes widely available.

Unlike the treatment given to Pixel phones, Google has been far more conservative with updating the Chromecast with Google TV from 2020. After having last been updated in December 2021, a new update for Chromecast with Google TV brought the dongle’s Android security patch from October 2021 up to May 2022.

It’s not the Android 12 update that owners have been clamoring for in recent months, but better than nothing. Updates to the underlying firmware improve device performance, but a handful of user-facing features has recently launched outside of that.

In a new Google Support article, the company has formally explained what the previously vague “Settings Services” app does for Pixel phones. The app works behind the scenes to make a variety of Pixel features possible, including the Battery widget, smarter notification handling, and location-dependent “Rules.”

On the privacy front, Google says that “Settings Services may collect phone or other IDs, app interactions, crash logs, and diagnostics” if collection of “Usage & diagnostics” – under Settings > Privacy – is enabled.

After being tested in April, YouTube is making Picture-in-Picture capabilities widely available on iOS 15+ devices. In most of the world, the feature is remaining exclusive to Premium subscribers, while those in the United States will be able to enjoy Picture-in-Picture for free for “non-music content.”

Once rolled out to your phone or tablet, there will be a “Picture-in-picture” toggle under Settings > General, while YouTube Premium will still offer background play where you just hear audio without any video.