Will there be Chromecast Receiver Emulator or an alternate app that acts as a receiver for development?

Question

Will there be any sort of emulator for the Chromecast receiver itself? Or possibly a way I could run a secondary Chrome window on my laptop that behaves the same as the one on the receiver itself. This way developers can test their sender applications without actually having the physical receiver device on-hand.

The Googlecast API SDK docs don't seem to cover the network protocol between remote application and receiver application, or the interface between the receiver application and Chrome. So it may not be easy to write such a receiver application to remotely control Chrome on Windows/Linux/Mac... — Julien Couvreur, Jul 26 '13 at 21:25
What I'm wondering is, is this Chromecast protocol related to what's driving youtube.com/leanback. — antak, Aug 03 '13 at 06:03
@antak Why would you think that? I'm not being a jerk I'm just curious why you think they might be related. I would have though it was more related to the google TVs feature which is very similar. — Chris Stephens, Aug 04 '13 at 15:33
@ChrisStephens I don't have a clue as to what network infrastructure drives any of them. All I know is that they (including Google TV) appear to operate with similar functionality (remote controlled streaming). — antak, Aug 05 '13 at 07:30
I'm looking for the same but for daily use, it's ridiculous: I have a 30" monitor with my laptop but no TV, why can't just Chrome receive. By the way, [YouTube TV @ www.youtube.com/tv](http://www.youtube.com/tv) works like this, but only with Android YouTube app. — TWiStErRob, Dec 14 '14 at 10:28

huisinro · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-15T19:52:40.787

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Update: Our latest effort is a complete chromecast v2 receiver, called YouMap Chromecast Receiver, works very well on Android devices, including FireTV: http://forum.xda-developers.com/hardware-hacking/chromecast/app-youmap-chromecast-receiver-android-t3161851

We just released a chromecast emulator on iOS, freely available from App Store:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rplay/id692511073?mt=8

Spent a few days to emulate Chromecast inside rPlay, finally it can find the rPlay (on Raspberry Pi) as a chromecast device, and it can send youtube URL redirection. still long way to go, but seems possible.

Attached is a screenshot of Youtube on Nexus 7, the Chromecast button is shown, when clicked, it will show rPlay as the device. enter image description here

More info on rPlay: http://www.vmlite.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=158&func=view&catid=23&id=10991

We will release chromecast emulators for windows/Linux/Mac/android/iOS in September.

edited Aug 15 '15 at 19:52

answered Jul 29 '13 at 04:50

huisinro

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Does it support the latest official Cast SDK? How do you Custom App Registration? I can get it to work with stock apps like YouTube but not the app I'm developing. – Brian White Jun 22 '14 at 02:55
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@huisinro did you ever release the windows simulator? – Seph Jun 17 '15 at 10:19
Chromecast emulator available for android and windows ?? – K Pradeep Kumar Reddy Jun 16 '20 at 05:09

score 14 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 29 '13 at 02:07

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This project is in early development. Youtube works, at least.

https://github.com/dz0ny/leapcast

answered Jul 29 '13 at 02:07

Tyler Hall

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This project is discontinued. – Mario Olivio Flores Jan 18 '17 at 12:07

score 12 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 25 '13 at 06:39

There doesn't appear to be one provided, but it should be possible, perhaps as a Chrome extension.

Fun facts: a ChromeCast compatible receiver would need to respond to DIAL Service Discovery requests sent via SSDP. Assuming it identified itself correctly and responded to DIAL commands, it would also need to open a WebSocket and respond to commands sent from the sender which are serialized JSON arrays containing the application namespace string and an application-specific JSON object as the first and second array elements. The receiver would at minimum only need to respond to two application namespaces ("cm" and "ramp" for the MediaProtocolCommand) in order to be compatible with the SDKs.

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 12 '13 at 15:51

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Another one (in early stage though) is CheapCast.

CheapCast is an Android App (no root required) that aims to emulate the ChromeCast Dongle. It allows your Android Device to act as target (1st screen) for ChromeCast-enabled Applications (like YouTube, Google Music).

App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.maui.cheapcast
Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ktmrXgj9qQ
Source: https://github.com/mauimauer/cheapcast (not yet available)

answered Aug 12 '13 at 15:51

eyecatchUp

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OP wants the opposite, cast to Laptop Chrome tab. – TWiStErRob Dec 12 '14 at 18:51
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@TWiStErRob Sure!? As far as I understood, OP asked for a) a _"Chromecast Receiver Emulator"_ or b) _"an alternate app **that acts as a receiver**"_. Well, exactly that is what CheapCast does; it **acts as a** Chromecast **receiver**. – eyecatchUp Dec 14 '14 at 01:26
The key here is "*Chrome window on my **laptop***". I don't see any Chrome Extensions or Desktop apps (and running an android emulator to run a chromecast emulator is ridiculous). *Let alone the **play store link is 404***. Usually people have a phone and a PC/Mac they develop on, I'm sure you didn't write this on your pad, but for your tab. – TWiStErRob Dec 14 '14 at 10:22
@TWiStErRob Nitpicking? The **key** was _not_ "laptop". OP asked: **1.)** _"Will there be **any sort** of emulator [for the Chromecast receiver itself]?"_ **2.)** _"**Or** possibly a way I could run a secondary Chrome window on my laptop?"_ Still arguing? Read the question's title: _"Will there be Chromecast Receiver Emulator **or an alternate app [that acts as a receiver for development]**?"_ Got it? CheapCast _is_ "an alternate app that acts as a receiver" and thus a perfectly valid answer. Period. PS: _I_ usually have a phone a tablet and a PC available. But that's not the question, is it? – eyecatchUp Dec 15 '14 at 07:43
App not found on playstore. – K Pradeep Kumar Reddy Jun 16 '20 at 09:46

Jon · Answer 5 · 2015-08-22T20:19:27.470

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You can run Chrome and install this Chromecast receiver emulator extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cr-cast/acmfmindblghbicdipoakcolegkcddbk

If you want to understand its workings, you can unpack the CRX and view the code.

Update 2015: CR-cast no longer works with current Chromecast API.

edited Aug 22 '15 at 20:19

answered May 21 '14 at 12:58

Jon

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Yes it is, it just moved: https://github.com/jloutsenhizer/CR-Cast. You have to side load it now. – Jon Oct 18 '14 at 23:00

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 20 '13 at 17:34

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Look this site:

http://hackaday.com/2013/08/02/leapcast-emulates-chromecast-in-your-chrome-browser/

Here the project:

https://github.com/dz0ny/leapcast

answered Aug 20 '13 at 17:34

atiruz

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To save others time. This no longer works or is maintained. – Abe Petrillo Mar 13 '18 at 23:17

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered May 27 '22 at 10:08

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Here is the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softmedia.receiver.castapp&hl=en

I am using the CastReceiver application on android to receive Chromecast.

So for that, just you need an extra android device to run the application.

answered May 27 '22 at 10:08

Md. Robi Ullah

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score -2 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 09 '18 at 17:44

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You can try this project https://github.com/vbaicu/mMusicCast

works great with youtube if you're like me and use the chromecast only to stream music.

answered Jan 09 '18 at 17:44

Viorel Baicu

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Will there be Chromecast Receiver Emulator or an alternate app that acts as a receiver for development?

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