Google's Chromecast and casting ecosystem have been incredibly successful for the company. By plugging in a very affordable device, you can "cast" videos from nearly any streaming app to your TV. One of the most popular apps for casting is, of course, YouTube, and now the Android app is getting more controls.

The casting menu is the pop-up dialog you see when casting content to a smart TV. In the case of YouTube, it shows the thumbnail of the current video and options to play/pause and volume. It appears that Google is adding some more features to this menu via a server-side update. The menu has shortcuts for a virtual remote and voice commands.

youtube cast

The voice control shortcut is fairly straightforward. You can use your voice to control the casting content with commands like "play, pause, skip ahead," etc or search for new videos. The remote is a little more confusing. Typically, there's no need for an actual remote when you're casting content. SmartDroid says it can be used to "switch back and forth in the YouTube TV app."

As mentioned, these controls appear to be rolling out via server-side update on YouTube version 14.50.53. This could be a new feature or it could be Google testing something that's not ready yet.

[appbox googleplay com.google.android.youtube&hl=en]

Source: SmartDroid