Chromcast Shutting Off While Inactive

[MintChoco484]

I leave my TV on so my dog has background noise when I leave the house. Recently when I come home, the TV is off and I suspect it's because the Chromcast has been "inactive" for 2-3+ hours. My settings haven't changed and it's still set to be on for at least 8 hours before shutting off. So far each time it's been while playing YouTube TV, so I'm not sure if it would happen on Spotify, YouTube. I've done a restart as well and it still happens.

[kelanfromgoogle · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your patience. Our team is aware of this issue and is actively investigating to find a fix. In the meantime, if you wish to prevent your Chromecast from powering off due to inactivity you can navigate to Settings > Developer options > Stay awake and toggle that option.

To enable developer options on your Chromecast with Google TV navigate to your device settings > System >  About > Android TV OS build, and then press the Select button on the remote about 7 times. This process will enable the developer options on your device.

Please stay tuned to the community forum, we will communicate as soon as a fix is identified and on the way.

Thank you,
Kelan

[GinXeng]

Still waiting for a fix...

[Chook71]

The only communication I've received from Google is complete and utter silence. I continually chase them requesting updates but get nothing back. 

After Google spent months tell users under no circumstances should developer mode be used to now turn around and say this is what needs to be done is a joke. 

My support case has not been updated in 4 weeks so don't tell me this is being looked at.

Google products are crap

Google support is pathetic 

Fix the dame issue or roll back the software update. Alternatively give us an address were we can post these devices back to for free and Google provide a complete refund. 

[jatphd]

stay awake is not helpful if it kicks you out of ambient mode/slide show, which it does.  this is not a viable solution!!!!!!

[Dansen]

Thanks Kelan,

I am using my Chromecast as a Chromecast Audio. So I really only want to see it as a [always on] device in Spotify, no need to be plugged into the TV.

Hopefully this developer setting will fix it.

thanks.

[Dansen]

This fixed my problem for using it with Spotify as an audio streamer.

[Zreftrod]

Hi, any updates on this problem?

[MintChoco484]

It appears this has been assigned a low-level priority on Google's side. Likewise since this is their own community forum, rather limited in who sees this. Anyone have any suggestions of tech vloggers who may be interested in highlighting this? I know most focus on new tech products/updates but this needs a reputable voice with a platform that may be able to highlight this to a larger audience. 

[Zreftrod]

Thanks for the info, sure seems that way. 

[Spectre84]

What is the status on a real solution?

[lauriel234]

I have the same problem with the tv going off. I haven't been using chromecast too long, 

am confused about what google tv is. I'm just using a regular tv - not smart tv. I don't see the Developer Option in my settings. 

[Atlantis613]

I have returned my device and I will be contacting Consumer Protection and the BBB, this is absolutely outrageous. I already purchased an Apple TV and we are not going to be using Google Android devices going forward. Thanks for nothing, Google. 

[Wrybread]

How is this marked as an "answer"? This is a workaround, and it doesn't work for people who want to use Ambient Mode. It's been months, is there any fix yet? If not, when can we expect one?

[dypdyp]

My guess and hope is that there is an update planned with their 2023 Made by Google scheduled for next week.  Or at least it will be shortly thereafter.

[Wrybread]

Thanks for that. I was about to order a Shield becaus I'm tired of banging my head against the limitations of these cheap devices, but I'll wait to see if this gets fixed then.

I have to say, the Chromecast is awesome compared to the Firesticks, but this bug has been a dealbreaker for me since one of the main things I use this for is a screensaver. It's odd that they don't seem to be taking this obvious bug seriously.

Anyway thanks for the info.

[dypdyp]

What is a Shield?  I usually have had good experience with Google products so this seems very unusual to have an existing feature break and not get addressed immediately.  Fingers crossed.

[Wrybread]

The Nvidia Shield Pro. It's a $200 Android TV device with much more RAM, storage, ports, and a much nicer remote. But of course it's $30 instead of $50. And it's a little old at this point, was released in 2019. But is a much much better device than a Chromecast, as you'd expect from the price. And as far as I know the devs would never let a bug like this live in the wild for so long.

[dypdyp]

Thanks.  Looks nice but an overkill for what I need.  I bought the Chromecast to display pics from Google Photos during ambient mode to turn our old TV into a digital picture frame.  We had it on 24x7 but turned off for the moment until the fix is in.  

[Wrybread]

That's exactly how I'm using the Chromecast, except in my case it's cycling through videos I've made with my drone. And the Shield is overkill for me too, but I still consider $200 pretty cheap. Especially compared to the labor I've now spent trying to fix this broken Chromecast and before that an even more broken Firestick.

[GreenMile]

Okay, it has been two months since your post, and still no fix!! I think maybe you should hire a real tech person who knows what they are doing! I'm going to buy a Roku and get rid of Chromecast!

[SarahVan]

I'm glad there is a temporary work around to this as it has been driving me crazy waking up in the middle of the night to absolute silence. Thought I was going crazy or that it was an issue with my Samsung TV settings, so I'm glad I found this thread. Hopefully all the upset people below can chill out on this-- sometimes fixes/patches take more time than the public thinks. Either way, thanks for the temp work around, @kelanfromgoogle. 🙂

[Jonas44]

I'm guessing that we get updates later here in Denmark, so now Google has sent us this update without fixing the bug first. I've only had this problem for about 3 weeks, so they knew there was a bug, but sent out the update anyway. I'll just tell my family and all my friends how to fix this with developer options and not to bother with the hassle of contacting Google support.

[Spectre84]

Finally got a response after initiating a new chat and referencing the old ID...apparently it was determined that I didn't qualify for any kind of RMA due to age of the product...course no one bothered to tell me. I've got no problem getting a new one, and if it has the same problems, I will blow a gasket

[jatphd]

why would you expect the new one to work?  wouldn't it have the same SW upgrade?  that upgrade created the present problem and google obviously hasn't fixed it.  instead they are telling people to go into developer mode, etc. which apparently addresses a fix for TV mode, but not for screensaver/slideshow mode.  For anyone using this for slideshows, we have been advised that the device is now a worthless paperweight!

[Spectre84]

100%....but then at that point I will have proof that it's the SW and will have much better ground to beat Google to death with it

[kookatron]

Ambient mode is the main reason I bought a chromecast. I want my TV to be on all the time with ambient mode. This new update has truly ruined this device for me. It's such a simple little thing but it is important, and it worked just fine before. PLEASE FIX THIS!

[ToxicSnowMan]

Hello everyone, while we have all been waiting months for Google to fix this issue it does not seem like they will. But not to worry there is a fix I have seen posted here and can assure you the talked about fix does in fact work. 

Go to Settings ->  System -> About 

Scroll down to Android TV OS Build

Press the OK/Select button 7 times

Now go back to System and scroll down to Developer Options

The second option on the list will say Stay Awake, toggle that on. And that's it, no more Chromecast turning off. 

Easy fix literally takes 20 seconds to do. Hope this helps everyone! 

CREDIT GOES TO FIRST USER WHO REPORTED IT

[kookatron]

This doesn't help people who want to use ambient mode, which is the reason I bought it over other devices.

This is not a solution.

[ToxicSnowMan]

Mine works just fine, you have to use the back arrow on controller to get it in ambient mode, once it's there it will stay there. But will not automatically go into ambient mode as a sleep function.

[kookatron]

Oh I didn't realize. Ok then thank you

[Idiotstumped]

Why can Google not suggest this? It works in developer mode fix so you sir are a genius and google needs to offer you a job asap!

[MSLongIsland]

I tried this, but it doesn't stay in ambient mode. After 4 hours, it goes to the main Google Chromecast menu. I have to select the back arrow to get it back into ambient mode. Easier than the TV shutting off, but I still have to do something every 4 hours.

[GinXeng]

That is wrong, after 4 hours it still kicks it off of Ambient mode and doesn't go back and stays on the main screen causing potential screen burn in, almost had one of my projectors almost ruined because of this, good thing I was able to notice it soon before permanent damage. 

[jatphd]

same. bought this for a homemade 27" digital picture frame.  Need it to stay on in Ambient Mode for slide show.  Google screwed this up and has not (yet) fixed it

[Spectre84]

want to check, are others having problems with the Add Device function for adding there TV/Soundbar/Receiver through the Google unit? Around the same time that the Screen Saver broke, I ran into issues with my Remote controlling the TV (Input change) and when I tried to add the TV for control it immediately would error out.

[Rob-122]

I was having trouble adding Bluetooth headphones. What I found is if I waited after pairing started and checked that I could move up and down with the remote between OK and cancel before pushing OK then worked. When I tried and received the error it seemed that the google device didn't like me pressing OK too soon. I hope that makes sense and helps you out.

[smity911]

how is this still not fixed? I'm down to only 1 device left from 7, replaced with pi's a month ago. I'm just waiting for someone to burn their tv in with developer mode on and no screen saver lmao 

[NatalieJ]

I think you might have replied to the wrong thread.

[kookatron]

Why is this labeled as "answered". It isn't answered. Seriously this is really crappy, do they not realize they have seriously handicapped this device with this stupid update?

Why is this going on months and months unaddressed. It's not a minor bug, it's a big deal. the thing goes to sleep on its own no matter what. Developer mode is not sufficient.

[smity911]

As I was using 7 of these things for ambient mode the dev fix is useless, after replacing 6 out of 7 devices with pi's I needed to keep the last Chromecast for casting purposes but also wanted ambient mode. Ended up using a GitHub repo called "cast all the things" and a cron job to send my dashboard url to the remaining Chromecast. 

This is a stupid workaround that shouldn't be needed, seriously though, do they don't perform burn in tests on these things every time they do an update? It seems like something that should have been caught by QC a long time ago.

[Spectre84]

Since I'm bored and pissed, I opened a new chat 
https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Chromecast/Chromecast-shutting-off-while-inactive/m-p/469255#...