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I turned my streaming stick into a dumb app launcher, and that's all it should be
(www.xda-developers.com)
this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2026
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Streaming sticks shouldn't have apps. The Chromecast Ultra is the last good streaming stick. Just cast, and it plays. End of story.
I loved the "idea" of the Chromecast and used them exclusively for over 5 years. However the implementation was always the issue. Phones would always disconnect leading to the inability to control it, and after recent updates, kill the stream mod session.
A hybrid approach is the best IMO. A remote for ease of access and quick things, plus casting for when you alreay have your phone out and want to use the better interface.
I've not experienced the stream ending, but there disconnect is definitely an issue. Might be app specific?
When I tested Chromecast with google TV (5 years ago to be fair, it might be fixed now), if I casted from my phone, I then had to use the remote to choose my Netflix account and choose the show again from scratch. So it was two steps on two devices, for no good reason. It also didn't connect to WiFi properly and didnt have Ethernet, so that killed its functionality as well.
Its nice to be able to use it with a remote instead of fumbling around with your phone.
Also performance, decoding support, not burning your phone's battery, etc
Chromecast doesnt use your phone for decoding. It just tells the stick to play the video, and it plays it directly. It shouldn't drain your phone at all.
The remote is a personal preference, but I was happy for the phone to be the remote. Having a second remote didnt gain me anything.
To be fair, I haven't used Chromecast in a long time. Maybe even 10 years ago now.
I remember having connectivity issues, where I'd go to pause the content and realize it disconnected again. So maybe the battery drain was because of poor connections, or poorly designed apps
There were definitely some shitty Chromecast apps. ABC in Aus had a terrible one. There are also some pretty shitty TV apps as well :/
Ultra was good for connectivity, as it has an Ethernet port. Relying on wifi on a streaming stick behind a TV was tough. My TV behaves as a signal blocking wall, anything WiFi behind it is a dead zone.
I also haven't tried the new Chromecast with google TV in a few years, but it was so terrible I returned it immediately and started scouring eBay for another Ultra. I am very sad Google killed the plain Chromecast line.
Huh? The ABC app works perfectly fine on the google Chromecast with TV (the little white hockey puck one). Hell, it works fine on my $199 TCL (2GB) from OfficeWorks.
Or did you mean the generation before that (the one that looks like a fat USB stick), where you'd be casting from your phone?
The casting in the ABC app was pretty broken for a while, but I believe they redid it a few years ago.