Google has officially ended support for the first-generation Chromecast.
On the Chromecast support page Google says: “Support for Chromecast (1st gen) has ended, which means these devices no longer receive software or security updates, and Google does not provide technical support for them. Users may notice a degradation in performance.”
The tech giant has already been winding down support for the first-gen Chromecast. In 2019, it stopped making and releasing large-scale updates for it, and instead focused on addressing bug and security issues. As Engadget notes, the last time Google released a bug fix and security update for the first-gen Chromecast was in November 2022 after a three-year pause.
Originally released in 2013, the dongle lets people "cast" content from a mobile device or Chrome tab to a larger screen, from photos to video-streaming services. Over the years, it's received a design upgrade and a few new features, including an Ultra version that supports 4K. We recommend the Chromecast With Google TV, which adds a remote and on-screen menu.