Chromecast with Google TV combines the concepts of Chromecast dongles and Android TV devices. This means that they have “Ambient mode” and screen savers. We’ll show you how to use both, which requires some research.
To merge Chromecast and Android TV, Google changed several things. However, Google TV is integrated with Android TV, so all Android TV settings are still present. An example of this is the screen saver.
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The Google TV screen saver Chromecast is called “Ambient Mode” and is linked to the setup process that takes place in the Google Home app. Ambient mode can be a Google Photos slide show or an art gallery.
Google TV is still the central Android TV, so you can install third-party screen savers from the Google Play Store. However, Google hid the ability to change the screen saver on Chromecast with Google TV. We can still do that, but the method is indirect.
Before we dive into third-party screen savers, let’s customize the easiest settings for ambient mode. Select your profile icon in the upper right corner of the home screen.
Then select “Settings” from the pop-up menu.
Scroll down and select “System”.
Finally, choose “Ambient mode”.
You will see three options here: Google Photos, Art Gallery and Experimental. Select one to use.
- Google Photos: This must be configured using the Google Home app. Read our guide on how to do this.
- Art Gallery: Several categories with different types of photography.
- Experimental: Activate “Low bandwidth mode” to save the data.
That’s all there is to changing the ambient mode, but this is where things get a little complicated. “Ambient mode” is actually just one of the possible screen savers you can use.
The ability to download a third-party screen saver is still available on Google TV – you just can’t do that in the Settings menu. You must open the screen saver settings for the screen saver application you want to use.
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First, we need to install a screen saver application. Installing an app on a Google TV device is not as simple as opening the Play Store. Read our guide on installing apps and use “screensaver” as a search term.
Then open the application. This is where the process will be different, depending on the screen saver application you want to use. What we are looking for is an option to set the application as a screen saver. Here are some examples of some screen saver apps.
And you’ll notice that some apps use the term “Daydream”, which was the old term for the screensaver. Keep an eye on that too.
Whichever setting is labeled, selecting it should take you to the ambient mode screen.
Now we can see that “Ambient mode” is simply a screen saver that has been activated by default. Select “Screen Saver” to continue.
You can now select the screen saver application of your choice. Making the selection can open the screensaver settings for that application.
Finally, you can decide how many minutes of inactivity to allow before the screen saver is activated. Select “When to start”.
Choose one of the time increments.
It is strange that Google has hidden the screen saver options, but at least it is still possible to use them.
RELATED: Using Google Photos as a screen saver on Google TV