Casting from Android Youtube app to Humax Freesat

... and no Chromecast or special TV appears to be needed.

A funny thing happened as I clicked to 'screencast' from my Android phone (running Lollipop). I had simply wanted to watch a YouTube video by pushing it to my Chromecast dongle plugged into the TV.

I had launched the YouTube app, clicked the Cast Screen icon at the top of the app and expected to see my Chromecast listed and then choose it to cast YouTube to the TV.

My 'funny thing' was that in addition I saw a second device labelled FS-HMX-01A-0000-****. That label I guessed was not the Chromecast but more likely my Freesat Humax HDR 1000S set-top box. So I chose this and hey presto, a Chromecast is not required to cast YouTube to the TV.

But it's only available in YouTube. This extra device, with the Humax box device ID, does not appear in any other apps when you press the cast icon. So the device doesn't appear when you use the drawer shade shortcut 'Cast Screen' nor in 'Netflix' and not even in the actual Chromecast app itself.

An explanation has yet to appear but I can surmise that YouTube may be unusually compliant. For example, if you have a Playstation 3, and run the YouTube app both on the PS3 and the phone, it's possible to pair them with a code and control the PS3 YouTube app with the phone. That's a slight gain in usefulness.

There is casting and then there's Chromecasting

'Casting' or 'mirroring' your phone on a big screen is quite the feature for social or family gatherings but you can also imagine its uses in meetings and school lessons. The industry standard called 'Miracast' has been in place for ages - it uses a wireless connection to send a copy of a phone or laptop screen (and sounds) to a TV. Of course and sadly, the sender and receivers need to be pre-registered which creates a Bluetooth-like hurdle. (Hec it's my TV.) Following this the paired devices rely on a wireless signal to send what may be a lot of data.

Most TV makers have given Miracast their own spin and branded names, possibly for self promotion but no doubt to the detriment of it 'taking off' in the public mind. Those who have tried to send from one device to another will have had success moderated by the 'standard' not being the best of standards. More a 'it might work' kind of standard.

Google's Chromecast (and possibly Apple's AirPlay too) work a bit differently. Instead of say, your phone downloading media from the Internet only to immediately send it to the TV, the Chromecast simply picks up the media from the Internet and displays it on the TV. Your phone essentially tells the Chromecast what to show and where to get it. The result by removing a hop from phone to TV provides a better experience by many accounts. The process is made possible by apps, such as iPlayer and ITV equivalents.

Playing with your phone will find a 'cast screen' command in the notification pull down shade and 'cast full screen' in some apps. Use this and you'll have mixed results because, like Miracast, you're needing to send a lot of data to the Chromecast and TV.