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Chromecast Support for Firefox

j1elo 8y ago
On a related note, there is also PipeCast, an attempt for a general library to cast to devices such as the Chromecast (but afaik not limited to it), from the people behind NewPipe https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/PipeCast https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/PipeCast
- alias_neo 8y ago
  It doesn't seem very active sadly, their dev branch is even older than master, and master hasn't been updated in almost a year. According to the documentation it only supports discovery anyway so, is it abandon-ware?
- zozbot123 8y ago
  There is an open standard alternative to Chromecast, known as Miracast. I wonder if this supports it.
  - DCKing 8y ago
    Miracast is not an alternative to Chromecast (officially called Google Cast nowadays). Miracast is a standard for wireless screen mirroring. If you play a Netflix show on your Miracast device, it plays on your phone, which then subsequently mirrors its own screen it to your Miracast display. This mirroring includes your entire phone UI and stuff like incoming notifications. At best, Miracast is an open standard alternative to Apple Airplay. Chromecast is a standard for remote controlling video and audio devices. When you play a Netflix stream on a Chromecast display, you send it a video URL that the Chromecast dongle/box/built-in device plays independently. You can then pause/stop/rewind/fast-forward it from multiple devices in your network, none of which are playing the video themselves. Chromecast is immensely more useful and practical as a result. As a small detail, Chromecast additionally supports display mirroring but that's not why so many people use it. There are no open alternatives for Chromecast. Some Kodi remote apps create a similar experience to stream video to Kodi. But the key of Chromecast's success is not its technical sophistication, but the fact that it has been adopted by a huge number of media services in their Android/iOS client apps. The reason for this is that it's (1) built using an easily available SDK from Google and (2) Chromecast devices enforce DRM, it's not possible (anymore) to cast to uncertified third party devices.
    - solarkraft 8y ago
      > it's not possible (anymore) to cast to uncertified third party devices That's my #1 gripe with it. The protocol is pretty freely available, but at the end there's a pretty strict authentication process requiring device keys stored in a secure enclave (is there a way of getting them out of there?). One way to go would be shipping a modified version of the library not enforcing authentication, paving the way for unapproved devices (implementing the protocol is seemingly easy) - but it will likely not be adopted very widely. Getting real Google Cast reception on your own device (I don't want to buy another hardware thing for something that is entirely software and that won't allow my custom software to run) will essentially involve breaking DRM.
      - bubblethink 8y ago
        I have a 1st gen chromecast which has root. It's been sitting in a wardrobe, but I suppose a clone could be made with some reverse engineering effort. I don't think the 1st gen ones had secure enclaves. They are pretty old at this point.
        solarkraft 8y ago
        As far as I remember most apps (most prominent exception being YouTube) don't support that version of Chromecast anymore.
        bubblethink 8y ago
        They should work, provided you let it update the software. However, the scene around rooting chromecasts died and I don't think you will retain root if you let it update. So you'll have to put it more effort to regain root, but in theory it should be possible.
        solarkraft 8y ago
        Sounds like another cool project I wish I had time for.
aboutruby 8y ago
Kind of misleading as it requires a native application (the bridge).
- soapdog 8y ago
  That is not misleading at all. Many add-ons require such companion apps. Any add-on that wants to access the filesystem in a more broad way or needs to use raw sockets will need this type of native app to be present. There is a protocol for talking between the native app and the WebExtension called "Native Messaging": https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/Native_messaging https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/Web... Native Messaging allow an Add-on to launch a native application that follows its rules. Basically, the add-on needs to ask for nativeMessaging permission, as this one does in: https://github.com/hensm/fx_cast/blob/master/ext/src/manifest.json#L31 https://github.com/hensm/fx_cast/blob/master/ext/src/manifes... And the native application needs to whitelist the add-on as someone who can call them, as seen in: https://github.com/hensm/fx_cast/blob/master/app/bin/build.js#L53-L63 https://github.com/hensm/fx_cast/blob/master/app/bin/build.j... You can see similar setups in many of the WebExtensions that are exploring the p2p/dweb/decentralization space. PS: I am not the author, I checked the source and knew what to look for.
- blfr 8y ago
  It would only be misleading if they didn't provide the bridge. They do, however, with links to multiple platforms right below the link to the extension.
fredley 8y ago
This is fantastic as Chromecast support was one thing keeping me from dropping Chrome entiredly. I have a real love/hate relationship with Chromecast. I love its minimalism and simplicity - you just pick something you want to 'cast' and off you go. Whether there's a handoff to stream directly to the TV or it's directly casting from the device is seamless (unless there are bandwidth issues with the latter). Videostream[1] works really well for video files. However, recently it's got a lot worse. For some reason universal notifications of casting devices stopped coming up on my Pixel. That meant navigating back into the casting app, which may have lost its connection, or using the Google Home app to switch something off. Also the fact that some content providers put annoying blocks on their apps (not just Amazon - some broadcasters in the UK prevent you from streaming live content), and all that means is you need to cast your tab/screen instead of using app-handoff (see bandwidth issues, above). It's so close to the perfect streaming device that the ways in which it fails hurt that much more. [1]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/videostream-for-google-ch/cnciopoikihiagdjbjpnocolokfelagl?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/videostream-for-go...
- Kuinox 8y ago
  You can use LocalCast to cast any video from your phone or internet.
  - miohtama 8y ago
    I assume it has to re-encode the content. Can you get any decent quality this way, as my gut feeling is that you need beefy CPU/GPU to maintain the framerate?
    - throwaway9d0291 8y ago
      Phones have hardware encoders, the same ones they use for recording video in your camera app.
    - rkangel 8y ago
      Localcast does not transcode. If you've got MP4 video then it works well, otherwise the chromecast can't display it. Videostream managed by the parent comment on the PC does transcode and so is much more accepting.
romanovcode 8y ago
I remember Chromecast was the only reason I still had to switch back from FF to Chrome when they released "new firefox". If this goes it would be a gamechanger.
amiga-workbench 8y ago
This is wonderful, its such a shame that the cast protocol is proprietary, the devices have the best UX I've seen from a multimedia dongle. No more faffing around with crap 10' UI's and cheap remote controls.
- smhg 8y ago
  It was surprising to me, but our TV's remote control is able to pauze/play/stop the Chromecast. That's generally faster than using your phone. Edit: FWIW it's a Sony TV.
  - nwellnhof 8y ago
    That's just another application of HDMI CEC, just like controlling a DVD/Bluray player with your TV remote.
    - amiga-workbench 8y ago
      Is it just me who is bothered how every OEM has some weird and wonderful CEC rebrand? Sony calls theirs Bravia Sync for example.
      - moftz 8y ago
        It's to trick people into thinking they can only buy a Sony Blu-ray player to go along with their Sony TV to go along their Sony soundbar. I'm glad everyone's stuff gets along for the most part but the fake vendor lock-in is lame.
  - jimmyspice 8y ago
    I think any TV with HDMI-CEC should work. it's also how it turns on your TV and switches to the correct input before hand. as an aside I think Google home users leverage this to turn on their TV, which I think is pretty cool
  - rags2riches 8y ago
    Yes, that took me far too long to learn.
m0nty 8y ago
Worth remembering that VLC 3 also does Chromecast. Different use-case I know but it is very handy.
- janus24 8y ago
  That's what I use to cast Youtube video. CTRL+N -> Paste -> Enter Good to go
  - ghostly_s 8y ago
    VLC can stream Youtube videos??
    - sp332 8y ago
      Yup! Just "open network stream" (ctrl-n) and paste the URL in. It can even save or convert them.
- NasKe 8y ago
  Shamefully it doesn't support subtitles yet.
- ebg13 8y ago
  They say that but I have never gotten it to actually find my chromecast. My goto for casting is now https://github.com/keredson/gnomecast https://github.com/keredson/gnomecast which just works.
  - bkor 8y ago
    If you're using Linux it might be good to check if it's compiled in correctly. I use VLC with Chromecast on Android, it works well enough.
LandR 8y ago
Now can we please have chromecast support in Amazon prime app... I can cast basically anything from my phone to my TV but not amazon prime. I need to use the Prime app on the TV.
- jerf 8y ago
  Google and Amazon aren't friends, so their apps can't work together. Hooray for proprietary protocols!
  - systemBuilder 8y ago
    Amazon is the reason why you can't cast their video on Chromecast. They have done everything in their power to thwart Google including taking down Chromecast for sale on the Amazon website.
    - beart 8y ago
      This is the primary reason I'm not going to renew my Prime account.
    - LandR 8y ago
      What is Amazon's beef with Google?
      - arwineap 8y ago
        I'm a little behind on the drama but Google killed youtube for firetv, amazon retaliated by dropping google home products. Now it seems like they are feuding over nest like things too. Very interesting.
        LandR 8y ago
        Amazing that the bookshop and search engine are fighting over how we watch TV.
        martin_a 8y ago
AdmiralAsshat 8y ago
This is cool, although Firefox for Android can already cast video to nearby Chromecasts. If I've got something in a tab that I want to cast, I usually send the tab to my phone first, then cast it. I suppose this would be useful if you've only got an iPhone.
- skykooler 8y ago
  Or any other non-Android phone. Or an older Android that doesn't support Chromecast.
- lucideer 8y ago
  > Firefox for Android can already cast video to nearby Chromecast This is less about Firefox itself casting video, and more about Android providing APIs to Chromecast. It's still Google doing the casting at the Android OS level; Firefox just leverages that. I know this is a nitpick, but it's important to understand the distinction with a closed protocol like this is that Google is the gatekeeper. The above linked Firefox addon is: highly unstable, made through painstaking reverse engineering, and has limited support (e.g. no Youtube). It's brilliant, comendable work, but I wonder how sustainable.
- r3bl 8y ago
  This is for the desktop. Firefox for Android can support it by calling Android's Chromecast support. They can release the code for calling those libraries. Firefox for desktop can't implement the same since the OS behind it doesn't have such support. This project requires you to install a bridge on the OS side and an add-on for calling it. It removes the need for Chrome for the users who already use Firefox as a primary browser.
est31 8y ago
Awesome. Stuff like this gives me hope of a Firefox renaissance where people don't regard it as something outdated that you better replace with Chrome but a real and viable alternative.
TarpitCarnivore 8y ago
Does anyone know of any way of handling AirPlay from Firefox? All I see is a ticket opened 4 years ago with little to no activity: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1171706 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1171706
- kalleboo 8y ago
  VLC is on-track to add AirPlay support soon, so at least there will be an open source library they could use.
- arwineap 8y ago
  My understanding is that everytime someone figures out how to open up airplay, apple goes and "fixes" it.
- Jonnax 8y ago
  Well the method by which this Chromecast extension works is using the API for communicating with a desktop application. It should be possible to do a similar thing for airplay. Someone needs to find a library that can act as a Airplay Client and then build that into an extension A quick Google shows this list of clients: https://github.com/jamesdlow/open-airplay/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/jamesdlow/open-airplay/blob/master/README...
  - amaccuish 8y ago
    As far as I know, there is no open source client that can do the encryption handshake required to send an AirPlay mirroring stream.
nhumrich 8y ago
This is awesome. Chromecast is the main reason i still have chrome installed. I have to open up chrome, just for casting. At work, all of our conference rooms have Chromecasts in them, because it's the only cross platform (including linux), cable free solution. And is often even easier to use then hdmi because you don't have to mess with display settings. I would often open chrome, share the entire desktop, then go back to Firefox. This will be nice for my workflow.
agumonkey 8y ago
Makes me wondering if there are ways to turn any device as a chromecast sink.
- kingosticks 8y ago
  No, it's locked down.
  - agumonkey 8y ago
    we need a video netcat.. netcast
    - yrro 8y ago
      Perhaps some kind of Video LAN server and Client
MentallyRetired 8y ago
Go Firefox go.
vvillena 8y ago
Chromecast is Embrace/Extend/Extinguish at work. What happened to open streaming protocols?
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
lxe 8y ago
I hate that Firefox went all-in with WebExtensions and removed XUL/XPCOM. Having to download another sidecar app alongside your extension is crappy UX.
fandango 8y ago
FYI, you can use Chromium instead of Chrome if you only have it installed for the Chromecast support. Chromium is open source and should be less Google-infested. You can cast your entire desktop with Chromium and still use Firefox for browsing. I think it works well for anything besides heavy video streaming, because that probably requires native Firefox support that the linked project provides.

On a related note, there is also PipeCast, an attempt for a general library to cast to devices such as the Chromecast (but afaik not limited to it), from the people behind NewPipe https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/PipeCast https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/PipeCast

alias_neo 8y ago
It doesn't seem very active sadly, their dev branch is even older than master, and master hasn't been updated in almost a year. According to the documentation it only supports discovery anyway so, is it abandon-ware?
zozbot123 8y ago
There is an open standard alternative to Chromecast, known as Miracast. I wonder if this supports it.
- DCKing 8y ago
  Miracast is not an alternative to Chromecast (officially called Google Cast nowadays). Miracast is a standard for wireless screen mirroring. If you play a Netflix show on your Miracast device, it plays on your phone, which then subsequently mirrors its own screen it to your Miracast display. This mirroring includes your entire phone UI and stuff like incoming notifications. At best, Miracast is an open standard alternative to Apple Airplay. Chromecast is a standard for remote controlling video and audio devices. When you play a Netflix stream on a Chromecast display, you send it a video URL that the Chromecast dongle/box/built-in device plays independently. You can then pause/stop/rewind/fast-forward it from multiple devices in your network, none of which are playing the video themselves. Chromecast is immensely more useful and practical as a result. As a small detail, Chromecast additionally supports display mirroring but that's not why so many people use it. There are no open alternatives for Chromecast. Some Kodi remote apps create a similar experience to stream video to Kodi. But the key of Chromecast's success is not its technical sophistication, but the fact that it has been adopted by a huge number of media services in their Android/iOS client apps. The reason for this is that it's (1) built using an easily available SDK from Google and (2) Chromecast devices enforce DRM, it's not possible (anymore) to cast to uncertified third party devices.
  - solarkraft 8y ago
    > it's not possible (anymore) to cast to uncertified third party devices That's my #1 gripe with it. The protocol is pretty freely available, but at the end there's a pretty strict authentication process requiring device keys stored in a secure enclave (is there a way of getting them out of there?). One way to go would be shipping a modified version of the library not enforcing authentication, paving the way for unapproved devices (implementing the protocol is seemingly easy) - but it will likely not be adopted very widely. Getting real Google Cast reception on your own device (I don't want to buy another hardware thing for something that is entirely software and that won't allow my custom software to run) will essentially involve breaking DRM.
    - bubblethink 8y ago
      I have a 1st gen chromecast which has root. It's been sitting in a wardrobe, but I suppose a clone could be made with some reverse engineering effort. I don't think the 1st gen ones had secure enclaves. They are pretty old at this point.
      - solarkraft 8y ago
        As far as I remember most apps (most prominent exception being YouTube) don't support that version of Chromecast anymore.
        bubblethink 8y ago
        They should work, provided you let it update the software. However, the scene around rooting chromecasts died and I don't think you will retain root if you let it update. So you'll have to put it more effort to regain root, but in theory it should be possible.
        solarkraft 8y ago
        Sounds like another cool project I wish I had time for.

aboutruby 8y ago

Kind of misleading as it requires a native application (the bridge).

soapdog 8y ago
That is not misleading at all. Many add-ons require such companion apps. Any add-on that wants to access the filesystem in a more broad way or needs to use raw sockets will need this type of native app to be present. There is a protocol for talking between the native app and the WebExtension called "Native Messaging": https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/Native_messaging https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/Web... Native Messaging allow an Add-on to launch a native application that follows its rules. Basically, the add-on needs to ask for nativeMessaging permission, as this one does in: https://github.com/hensm/fx_cast/blob/master/ext/src/manifest.json#L31 https://github.com/hensm/fx_cast/blob/master/ext/src/manifes... And the native application needs to whitelist the add-on as someone who can call them, as seen in: https://github.com/hensm/fx_cast/blob/master/app/bin/build.js#L53-L63 https://github.com/hensm/fx_cast/blob/master/app/bin/build.j... You can see similar setups in many of the WebExtensions that are exploring the p2p/dweb/decentralization space. PS: I am not the author, I checked the source and knew what to look for.
blfr 8y ago
It would only be misleading if they didn't provide the bridge. They do, however, with links to multiple platforms right below the link to the extension.

fredley 8y ago

This is fantastic as Chromecast support was one thing keeping me from dropping Chrome entiredly. I have a real love/hate relationship with Chromecast. I love its minimalism and simplicity - you just pick something you want to 'cast' and off you go. Whether there's a handoff to stream directly to the TV or it's directly casting from the device is seamless (unless there are bandwidth issues with the latter). Videostream[1] works really well for video files. However, recently it's got a lot worse. For some reason universal notifications of casting devices stopped coming up on my Pixel. That meant navigating back into the casting app, which may have lost its connection, or using the Google Home app to switch something off. Also the fact that some content providers put annoying blocks on their apps (not just Amazon - some broadcasters in the UK prevent you from streaming live content), and all that means is you need to cast your tab/screen instead of using app-handoff (see bandwidth issues, above). It's so close to the perfect streaming device that the ways in which it fails hurt that much more. [1]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/videostream-for-google-ch/cnciopoikihiagdjbjpnocolokfelagl?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/videostream-for-go...

Kuinox 8y ago
You can use LocalCast to cast any video from your phone or internet.
- miohtama 8y ago
  I assume it has to re-encode the content. Can you get any decent quality this way, as my gut feeling is that you need beefy CPU/GPU to maintain the framerate?
  - throwaway9d0291 8y ago
    Phones have hardware encoders, the same ones they use for recording video in your camera app.
  - rkangel 8y ago
    Localcast does not transcode. If you've got MP4 video then it works well, otherwise the chromecast can't display it. Videostream managed by the parent comment on the PC does transcode and so is much more accepting.

romanovcode 8y ago

I remember Chromecast was the only reason I still had to switch back from FF to Chrome when they released "new firefox". If this goes it would be a gamechanger.

amiga-workbench 8y ago

This is wonderful, its such a shame that the cast protocol is proprietary, the devices have the best UX I've seen from a multimedia dongle. No more faffing around with crap 10' UI's and cheap remote controls.

smhg 8y ago
It was surprising to me, but our TV's remote control is able to pauze/play/stop the Chromecast. That's generally faster than using your phone. Edit: FWIW it's a Sony TV.
- nwellnhof 8y ago
  That's just another application of HDMI CEC, just like controlling a DVD/Bluray player with your TV remote.
  - amiga-workbench 8y ago
    Is it just me who is bothered how every OEM has some weird and wonderful CEC rebrand? Sony calls theirs Bravia Sync for example.
    - moftz 8y ago
      It's to trick people into thinking they can only buy a Sony Blu-ray player to go along with their Sony TV to go along their Sony soundbar. I'm glad everyone's stuff gets along for the most part but the fake vendor lock-in is lame.
- jimmyspice 8y ago
  I think any TV with HDMI-CEC should work. it's also how it turns on your TV and switches to the correct input before hand. as an aside I think Google home users leverage this to turn on their TV, which I think is pretty cool
- rags2riches 8y ago
  Yes, that took me far too long to learn.

m0nty 8y ago

Worth remembering that VLC 3 also does Chromecast. Different use-case I know but it is very handy.

janus24 8y ago
That's what I use to cast Youtube video. CTRL+N -> Paste -> Enter Good to go
- ghostly_s 8y ago
  VLC can stream Youtube videos??
  - sp332 8y ago
    Yup! Just "open network stream" (ctrl-n) and paste the URL in. It can even save or convert them.
NasKe 8y ago
Shamefully it doesn't support subtitles yet.
ebg13 8y ago
They say that but I have never gotten it to actually find my chromecast. My goto for casting is now https://github.com/keredson/gnomecast https://github.com/keredson/gnomecast which just works.
- bkor 8y ago
  If you're using Linux it might be good to check if it's compiled in correctly. I use VLC with Chromecast on Android, it works well enough.

LandR 8y ago

Now can we please have chromecast support in Amazon prime app... I can cast basically anything from my phone to my TV but not amazon prime. I need to use the Prime app on the TV.

jerf 8y ago
Google and Amazon aren't friends, so their apps can't work together. Hooray for proprietary protocols!
- systemBuilder 8y ago
  Amazon is the reason why you can't cast their video on Chromecast. They have done everything in their power to thwart Google including taking down Chromecast for sale on the Amazon website.
  - beart 8y ago
    This is the primary reason I'm not going to renew my Prime account.
  - LandR 8y ago
    What is Amazon's beef with Google?
    - arwineap 8y ago
      I'm a little behind on the drama but Google killed youtube for firetv, amazon retaliated by dropping google home products. Now it seems like they are feuding over nest like things too. Very interesting.
      - LandR 8y ago
        Amazing that the bookshop and search engine are fighting over how we watch TV.
      - martin_a 8y ago

AdmiralAsshat 8y ago

This is cool, although Firefox for Android can already cast video to nearby Chromecasts. If I've got something in a tab that I want to cast, I usually send the tab to my phone first, then cast it. I suppose this would be useful if you've only got an iPhone.

skykooler 8y ago
Or any other non-Android phone. Or an older Android that doesn't support Chromecast.
lucideer 8y ago
> Firefox for Android can already cast video to nearby Chromecast This is less about Firefox itself casting video, and more about Android providing APIs to Chromecast. It's still Google doing the casting at the Android OS level; Firefox just leverages that. I know this is a nitpick, but it's important to understand the distinction with a closed protocol like this is that Google is the gatekeeper. The above linked Firefox addon is: highly unstable, made through painstaking reverse engineering, and has limited support (e.g. no Youtube). It's brilliant, comendable work, but I wonder how sustainable.
r3bl 8y ago
This is for the desktop. Firefox for Android can support it by calling Android's Chromecast support. They can release the code for calling those libraries. Firefox for desktop can't implement the same since the OS behind it doesn't have such support. This project requires you to install a bridge on the OS side and an add-on for calling it. It removes the need for Chrome for the users who already use Firefox as a primary browser.

est31 8y ago

Awesome. Stuff like this gives me hope of a Firefox renaissance where people don't regard it as something outdated that you better replace with Chrome but a real and viable alternative.

TarpitCarnivore 8y ago

Does anyone know of any way of handling AirPlay from Firefox? All I see is a ticket opened 4 years ago with little to no activity: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1171706 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1171706

kalleboo 8y ago
VLC is on-track to add AirPlay support soon, so at least there will be an open source library they could use.
arwineap 8y ago
My understanding is that everytime someone figures out how to open up airplay, apple goes and "fixes" it.
Jonnax 8y ago
Well the method by which this Chromecast extension works is using the API for communicating with a desktop application. It should be possible to do a similar thing for airplay. Someone needs to find a library that can act as a Airplay Client and then build that into an extension A quick Google shows this list of clients: https://github.com/jamesdlow/open-airplay/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/jamesdlow/open-airplay/blob/master/README...
- amaccuish 8y ago
  As far as I know, there is no open source client that can do the encryption handshake required to send an AirPlay mirroring stream.

nhumrich 8y ago

This is awesome. Chromecast is the main reason i still have chrome installed. I have to open up chrome, just for casting. At work, all of our conference rooms have Chromecasts in them, because it's the only cross platform (including linux), cable free solution. And is often even easier to use then hdmi because you don't have to mess with display settings. I would often open chrome, share the entire desktop, then go back to Firefox. This will be nice for my workflow.

agumonkey 8y ago

Makes me wondering if there are ways to turn any device as a chromecast sink.

kingosticks 8y ago
No, it's locked down.
- agumonkey 8y ago
  we need a video netcat.. netcast
  - yrro 8y ago
    Perhaps some kind of Video LAN server and Client

MentallyRetired 8y ago

Go Firefox go.

vvillena 8y ago

Chromecast is Embrace/Extend/Extinguish at work. What happened to open streaming protocols?

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

lxe 8y ago

I hate that Firefox went all-in with WebExtensions and removed XUL/XPCOM. Having to download another sidecar app alongside your extension is crappy UX.

fandango 8y ago

FYI, you can use Chromium instead of Chrome if you only have it installed for the Chromecast support. Chromium is open source and should be less Google-infested. You can cast your entire desktop with Chromium and still use Firefox for browsing. I think it works well for anything besides heavy video streaming, because that probably requires native Firefox support that the linked project provides.