$8 YouMap App Turns Your Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick Into A Chromecast
There's a new app available in Amazon's Appstore for Android that will bring the Chromecast experience to your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick. It's called YouMap Cast Receiver by VMLite Corporation, and it runs $7.99 -- a bit expensive for app, though a fair bit cheaper than a Chromecast dongle, which normally sells for $35 (you can often find it for a few bucks less).
To be clear, YouMap Cast Receiver won't replicate the Chromecast experience in its entirety (more on that in a moment), though it will allow you to mirror your phone, tablet, or Chrome browser tab to your TV. It implements the same protocol as Chromecast and in addition to screen mirroring, it works with YouTube, Google Play Movies and TV, Google Play Music, and several other apps developed using the Google Cast SDK.
So, what's the caveat, other than the price tag? You can't play DRM movies or TV shows, at least not without a little work. That means you can fire up movie trailers from Google Play, but watching full length DRM protected content is a no-go.
"However , if you cast screen to Fire TV or other devices first, then start Google Play Movies, all movies (including DRM-ed) work very well, and the mobile device becomes a remote control, while the movie plays on TV," the developers claim.
Since it's a rather new app, there are only two user reviews on Amazon, though both gave it a 5-star rating with some glowing commentary.
"Actually properly emulates Chromecast with a background service. I've tried lots of other things to try and emulate the Chromecast functionality and none of them did what I wanted. The main thing I used my Chromecast for after getting my Fire TV was Google Play Music, and every solution I tried to do it on the Fire TV either was clunky, didn't work with Play Music very well, or didn't work at all. This app runs a background service on the Fire TV that actually appears to emulate the Chromecast," one user wrote.
If you're leery but still interested, the developers are allowing users to test drive YouMap Cast Receiver for free by sideloading the APK, which you can find here. It will work up until August 31. If and when you're ready pony up, you can find the paid app here.
To be clear, YouMap Cast Receiver won't replicate the Chromecast experience in its entirety (more on that in a moment), though it will allow you to mirror your phone, tablet, or Chrome browser tab to your TV. It implements the same protocol as Chromecast and in addition to screen mirroring, it works with YouTube, Google Play Movies and TV, Google Play Music, and several other apps developed using the Google Cast SDK.
So, what's the caveat, other than the price tag? You can't play DRM movies or TV shows, at least not without a little work. That means you can fire up movie trailers from Google Play, but watching full length DRM protected content is a no-go.
"However , if you cast screen to Fire TV or other devices first, then start Google Play Movies, all movies (including DRM-ed) work very well, and the mobile device becomes a remote control, while the movie plays on TV," the developers claim.
Since it's a rather new app, there are only two user reviews on Amazon, though both gave it a 5-star rating with some glowing commentary.
"Actually properly emulates Chromecast with a background service. I've tried lots of other things to try and emulate the Chromecast functionality and none of them did what I wanted. The main thing I used my Chromecast for after getting my Fire TV was Google Play Music, and every solution I tried to do it on the Fire TV either was clunky, didn't work with Play Music very well, or didn't work at all. This app runs a background service on the Fire TV that actually appears to emulate the Chromecast," one user wrote.
If you're leery but still interested, the developers are allowing users to test drive YouMap Cast Receiver for free by sideloading the APK, which you can find here. It will work up until August 31. If and when you're ready pony up, you can find the paid app here.
