So, in Google's infinite wisdom and pain-in-the-ass habit of nixing useful functionality and other things that their users like, they've nixed 480p support on the Chromecast With Google TV (CwGTV).
When we visit my in-laws on their farm (which has slow & unstable internet), we use 480p resolution because 720p and 1080p uses too much bandwidth so the video constantly buffers (pausing for 5-30 seconds after every 2-10 seconds of video). At 480p, the video only rarely buffered and would play smoothly 98% of the time.
Six weeks ago, when we last visited my in-laws, setting the Chromecast resolution to 480p worked flawlessly. Now, after Google has "added new features," according to the pop-up that displays the first time after you sign into the Chromecast after the most recent firmware update (side note: ALL FOUR of those "new" features they were just dying to share were already present in the CwGTV six weeks ago, before the firmware update), they failed to mention the "feature" of pointlessly removing 480p support. (Like, why couldn't they just leave it be as it was? It worked fine! Aaargh!)
Now, when trying to enable 480p (which, YES, IS STILL AN OPTION AVAILABLE, as seen below), this happens (see photos).
This is the kind of bullcrap I expect from Apple and is why I avoid Apple like the plague. But with each new consumer-hostile change Google makes, I'm becoming more and more irritated with them and am now inches from abandoning the ecosystem I've used for the past ~17 years.
Come on, Google, get your idiot developers to take their heads out of where the sun doesn't shine, and do what you do BEST: Make awesome products and provide unmatched customer choice & control! Stop following the painfully ubiquitous trend, that nearly every other company these days seems to have done, of pushing UX off a cliff.
