Chromecast Ultra is the version of the legendary Chromecast compatible with 4K resolutions and HDR screens. But if you have reached this article, it is very likely that you already know this and even that you have one of these devices connected to your television. To take full advantage of the mythical Google device we can resort to dozens of applications that are available in the Android store. Outside of the applications recommended by the manufacturer, there is a whole compendium of tools that allow us to turn our Chromecast Ultra into a console emulator, for example, or a karaoke, or even a dance game . We have compiled several of these applications to take full advantage of the little toy of the great G.
VLC to watch series and movies locally
One of the best video players that currently exist for our Chromecast. The Android application allows us to stream the videos on the television. Its greatest advantage is precisely that it is compatible with video and audio formats without quality loss (MKV, MP4, AVI, MOV, OGG, FLAC, TS, M2TS, WV and AAC), not to mention the compatibility with subtitle files that we can download through the Internet and the possibility of playing videos in 4K .
To this must be added that the application allows you to read the content hosted on micro SD cards and external devices in general. In this way we can connect an external hard drive or USB memory to the phone to play the content directly on the TV.
- Download VLC for Android
Solid Explorer, a file manager to send content to Chromecast
Not only is it the best file manager that we can find on Android, but it is also one of the few compatible with Chromecast. It is true that it has a trial period of 14 days , but from tuexperto.com we highly recommend your purchase.
In addition to allowing us to navigate between the files hosted on the phone, the application is compatible with literally any file format. Videos in MP4, images in PNG, PDF documents, documents in Word format, songs in WMA, PowerPoint presentations… In short, any type of file. The good thing is that being compatible with Chromecast we can directly transfer the files to the TV without using independent applications.
- Download Solid Explorer for Android
MusixMatch to turn your Chromecast into karaoke
Is it possible to turn your television into a virtual karaoke? It is possible to turn your television into a virtual karaoke. How? Through MusixMatch. The application itself is useless, that is, we will not be able to play songs from the application itself, but we will have to resort to third-party services such as YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud or Google Play Music .
Once we have started to play songs in any of the services that we have just mentioned, the application will superimpose the lyrics of the song in question as karaoke. In this way we can search for songs without voices to turn our Chromecast into a walking karaoke.
- Download MusixMatch for Android
TuneIn Radio, the best way to listen to the radio on your TV
There are dozens of radio applications for Android and iOS, but few are compatible with the Google device. TuneIn Radio is one of the few applications that is fully compatible with Chromecast.
It has more than 100,000 stations available from all over the world, although its greatest advantage is the categorization that the application performs on the stations. For example, we can classify the content depending on the country, the type of music or the topic to be discussed (politics, sports, technology ...). Of course, the application has a paid version. The free version has some unlimited functions.
- Download TuneIn Radio for Android
Cast to Smart TV to stream videos and photos to TV
The name of the application literally describes the purpose for which it is designed: to transmit images and videos to the TV. The application acts as a kind of gallery that collects all the music, photos and videos that are stored in the phone memory . Being compatible with the Google device, we can send the content directly to the television, in such a way that we are not forced to resort to independent applications.
The good news is that it supports almost any video, sound and image format. It is also compatible with other DLNA devices, such as Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV, as well as proprietary systems from Samsung, LG and Sony , among others.
- Download Cast to Smart TV for Android
Angry Birds Friends, the mythical saga of flying birds comes to Chromecast
Probably the best game we can find for our Chromecast Ultra. This fun title developed by Rovio brings us the experience of the original flying birds game by adding a multiplayer mode to play with friends and, in general, with any Angry Birds Friends player .
The game releases 20 new levels every week and includes a general classification that allows us to compete against the rest of the players in the world. It also presents competitive challenges every two weeks in which we can earn dozens of rewards and thus advance to higher leagues.
- Download Angry Birds Friends for Android
DrawParty, the offline Pinturillo for Chromecast
Does the Pinturillo game sound familiar to you? Since the quarantine was established in Spain, it has managed to be one of the most downloaded games for mobile phones. DrawParty brings us the original essence of the mythical game through our Chromecast Ultra. The difference from its counterpart is that it lacks an offline mode . That is, we can only play with members of our house.
Otherwise, the game is practically identical. In short, we will have to guess the suggested word through a figure drawn by the host of the party . The first to get the word right will be the next host of the game. And so on.
- Download DrawParty for Android
Kodi to watch series, movies and TV shows
We have already spoken to you many times about Kodi. It is an IPTV content manager that allows us to reproduce radio stations, series, TV channels, films and documentaries through third-party sources. In this way we can see content from other countries without going through any type of subscription.
Unfortunately, the app doesn't support Chromecast content playback. The good news is that there are several methods that will allow us to duplicate the screen on the TV to see the application in full. In this other article we explain how the application works.
- Download Kodi for Android
CastNES, turn your Chromecast into one on a Nintendo console
Yes, there are also emulators for Google Chromecast. This one from the ViApps studio turns our television into a Nintendo console, the legendary NES . The operation of the application is really simple. We will only have to load the original ROM file on the phone and then click on the virtual Chromecast button. Automatically our phone will become a remote control, from which we can control the different buttons of the emulator.
In terms of signal delay, the comments that we have been able to find about the application are positive, so it is expected that the experience in this aspect will be positive. It also has a paid version that costs a little more than 3 euros and that allows us to eliminate the advertising of the emulator.
- Download CastNES for Android
Just Dance Now, dance to the rhythm of Just Dance with your phone
Speaking of games, this one from Ubisoft brings the original Just Dance experience to our Chromecast. Through the different sensors of the mobile phone, the application will be able to capture our movements while the game shows us the choreography live on the television . In fact, it does not require any type of camera, just hold the mobile firmly with your hand so that it begins to register the movements.
With more than 500 songs available from different musical genres, the game has social functions to play against 10, 100 or 1,000 players if we wish. Everything from the living room of our house. It also has a function that allows us to calculate the number of calories we consume during the dance.
- Download Just Dance Now for Android
Web Video Cast, a powerful vitaminized web browser
If we want to have a web browser on our Chromecast, Web Video Cast is one of the best applications for the Google device. It is not a common web browser, as it has dozens of additional functions aimed at playing web videos .
For example, it has an ad blocker that allows us to remove annoying ads . It also allows us to play content directly from the phone's internal memory. Or add subtitles to files. Or download videos from web pages without resorting to external applications. The options in this regard are innumerable.
- Download Web Video Cast for Android
Cast PDF, a simple PDF file reader for your Chromecast Ultra
As its name indicates, it is a simple PDF document viewer that allows us to project the files directly on the television. In fact, its functions are limited to those of an ordinary PDF reader: word searches, night mode, customizable zoom, reading to two pages and so on. Beyond the application's compatibility with Chromecast, Cast PDF allows you to read documents directly on your mobile phone and tablet. It also has a paid version that removes advertising and makes the watermark disappear.
- Download Cast PDF for Android