Chromecast can now live stream YouTube videos from the desktop

It seems that Google is quietly trimming back the restrictions around sending YouTube videos to your Chromecast. In addition to being able to share private videos, you can now push live streams from your desktop to the cheapie streaming stick. According to Android Police, the feature isn’t active on Android devices, only desktops, but that’s a small price to pay to get live hummingbird videos on your box 24/7.

Every few weeks it seems that Google expands the capabilities of the Chromecast TV dongle. Recently, the company rolled out a developer SDK to allow third-parties to take advantage of Cast functionality. Now Google is adding some extra Cast features to YouTube. Private videos will now work with your Chromecast, and you can also send YouTube live streams to your Chromecast, Android Police reports. However, there’s one big caveat for live streams: they will only work if you send them from a desktop browser to your Chromecast. Google’s Android app for YouTube is still lacking Cast functionality. According to Google’s YouTube and YouTube.com support page for Chromecast, live content won’t work, nor will videos not approved for mobile playback. Nevertheless, many users are reporting that the new functionality is working for desktop web browsers.