YouTube on iPhone can't chromecast to a Chromecast on its hotspot Wifi network

[DavidCam]

My mother has a 120Gb per month internet plan on her phone.  It is her only internet connection.  This is a common and more-affordable scenario in many countries, though maybe not the US.

She uses various devices including her laptop and a Chromecast which are fully configured to use the wifi network created by the hotspot on her phone. 

She has a very new iPhone, with Google apps installed like YouTube and Photos.

The Google Home app on her phone works fine as it requests local network access rights as part of its app configuration.

From a laptop or other phone connected to the hotspot from her phone, Chromecast works perfectly well.

But YouTube (and probably the full suite of Google apps which support Chromecasting video/photos) on iPhone can't successfully connect to a Chromecast on its hotspot Wifi network because it doesn't request rights to access the local network.

I think someone missed this scenario in the planning for the iPhone apps that support Chromecast.

Can this please be fixed.

[David_K]

This isn't an issue that can be fixed by Google I'm afraid, it's fundamental to how Wi-Fi works. Most phones simply don't have the hardware required to broadcast a Wi-Fi network and act like they are connected to that same network at the same time. This is why most people workaround this limitation by using a second phone or tablet.

1. Turn on the Wi-Fi hotspot on your phone to make a new network
2. Connect your other device to your phone's hotspot
3. Use the other device to cast to your Chromecast

[DavidCam]

You wrote: "Most phones simply don't have the hardware required to broadcast a Wi-Fi network and act like they are connected to that same network at the same time"

I believe your comments about hardware limitations to be incorrect.

I've used this scenario with Android on multiple phones in the past and it works just fine. 

In fact I just tested it now with my Android phone and it also worked fine.

Also, on iPhone, the Google Home app can access the Chromecast on its local hotspot network, because it has the Local Network Access permission.

My problem is one that happens on Apple, not Android, due to access to the local network constrained by lack of the local network access permission, which the YouTube app doesn't request at time of installation (Google Home app does).  The Google Home app on iPhone CAN see and access the Chromecast on its hotspot W-Fi network, which proves the matter of hardware limitations wrong.  It can do this because the app has the Local Network Access permission requested by the Google Home app at time of installation.

The issue here is that the YouTube app (and other apps that use Chromecast) don't request the Local Network Access permission at time of installation.

If you were talking about broadcasting a Wi-Fi network and being connected to another Wi-Fi separate Wi-Fi network, I would agree to limitations of hardware because you'd need two Wi-Fi chipsets, but that's not the scenario.

[David_K]

If you were talking about broadcasting a Wi-Fi network and being connected to another Wi-Fi separate Wi-Fi network, I would agree to limitations of hardware because you'd need two Wi-Fi chipsets, but that's not the scenario.

You're correct and that's what I'm referring to. Sounds like you're referring to an issue specific to iOS. Have you tried turning on the local network access permission for those apps manually in iOS settings? Settings > Apps > YouTube > Local Network.

[DavidCam]

It would be great if I could turn on local network access on a per app basis, but the local network permission is not something that appears under Settings/Apps/YouTube.

It does appear and is able to be turned on and off in the Google home app because the Google home app requests that permission. 

So over to Google to update the full set of iOS apps that use Chromecast such as the YouTube app, to allow it to have the local network access permission for them to work with Chromecast in this scenario. 

Otherwise, it means that iOS apps like YouTube cannot use Chromecast when your phone is your only internet connection.

Maybe having your phone as your only internet connection is an odd scenario in the USA, but overseas it's extremely common, and for example for students it can be  the most affordable option by far.

[DavidCam]

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7640706?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS#zippy=%2Callow-local... says:

If your iPhone or iPad has iOS 14 or later, you must give YouTube permission to connect to streaming devices on your local network to cast to your TV. If you use more than one YouTube app, you must allow Local Network access for each app (for example, YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube TV, YouTube Kids). When Local Network is turned off, casting won't work.

Follow these instructions in your device’s settings, or in the YouTube app:

In your iPhone or iPad:

Go to Settings.
Scroll through the list of apps and select the YouTube app you’re using to cast (for example, YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube TV, YouTube Kids).
Set Local Network to On.

But the above instructions don't always work because the Settings/Privacy & Security/Local Network doesn't list the related apps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGA519fs2rw was really helpful, in short there's some stuff-up on the iPhone where the application settings get out of sync and you can work around it by doing Settings/General/Transfer or Reset Phone/Reset/Reset Location & Privacy and then reboot the phone, and then re-run the YouTube app and it will ask if you want to grant local network access and say yes, and then the option appears under Settings/Privacy & Security/Local Network when previously it wasn't there.

[David_K]

I suspect a quicker way would most likely be to simply uninstall the app, then reinstall it. That's what I was going to suggest anyhow as I definitely see the option to toggle local network access for the YouTube app.

[DavidCam]

I did a test with a work iPhone that never had YouTube installed on it before.  Fresh install of YouTube, but the Local Network toggle for YouTube didn't appear until I did the Settings/General/Transfer or Reset Phone/Reset/Reset Location & Privacy then reboot thing.

I'll plan to apply the same approach on my mother's phone when I get a chance to visit and see how it goes, suspect I'll be successful.

Thanks!

[David_K]

How bizarre! I’d encourage you to also send this feedback directly to Google. You will not receive a response, unless Google need more details from you, however the team are still reading the feedback.