Chromecast Binding

The binding integrates Google Chromecast streaming devices. It not only acts as a typical binding, but also registers each Chromecast device as an audio sink that can be used for playback.

When a Chromecast is used as an audio sink, the Chromecast connects to the runtime to get the audio streams. The binding sends the Chromecast URLs for getting the audio streams based on the Primary Address (Network Settings configuration) and the runtime HTTP port. These URL defaults can be overridden with the Callback URL configuration parameter.

This can be configured on the binding level:

Configuration Parameter	Type	Description
callbackUrl	text	optional Callback URL - url to use for playing notification sounds, e.g. http://192.168.0.2:8080 (opens new window)

Configure a Callback URL when the Chromecast cannot connect using the Primary Address or Port, e.g. when:

• proxying HTTP (port 80/443) using Apache/NGINX to openHAB (port 8080)
• openHAB is running inside a Docker container that has its own IP Address

Supported Things

Things	Description	Thing Type
Chromecast	Classic HDMI video Chromecasts and Google Homes	chromecast
Chromecast Audio	The Chromecast which only does audio streaming and offers a headphone jack	audio
Audio Group	A Chromecast audio group for multi-room audio defined via the Chromecast app	audiogroup

Discovery

Chromecast devices are discovered on the network using mDNS. No authentication is required for accessing the devices on the network. Auto-discovery is enabled by default. To disable it, you can add the following line to <openHAB-conf>/services/runtime.cfg:

discovery.chromecast:background=false

Thing Configuration

Chromecast devices can also be manually added. The only configuration parameter is the ipAddress. For an audio group also the port is necessary. The auto-discovery process finds the port automatically. With manual thing configuration the parameter port must be determined manually.

Example for audio group:

Thing chromecast:audiogroup:bathroom  [ ipAddress="192.168.0.23", port=42139]

Channels

Channel Type ID	Item Type	Description
control	Player	Player control; currently only supports play/pause/next and does not correctly update, if the state changes on the device itself
stop	Switch	Send ON to this channel: Stops the Chromecast. If this channel is ON, the Chromecast is stopped, otherwise it is in another state (see control channel)
volume	Dimmer	Control the volume, this is also updated if the volume is changed by another app
mute	Switch	Mute the audio
playuri	String	Can be used to tell the Chromecast to play media from a given url
appName	String	Name of currently running application
appId	String	ID of currently running application
idling	Switch	Read-only indication on whether Chromecast is on idle screen
statustext	String
currentTime	Number:Time	Current time of currently playing media
duration	Number:Time	Duration of current track (null if between tracks)
metadataType	String	Type of metadata, this indicates what metadata may be available. One of: GenericMediaMetadata, MovieMediaMetadata, TvShowMediaMetadata, MusicTrackMediaMetadata, PhotoMediaMetadata.
subtitle	String	(GenericMediaMetadata) Descriptive subtitle of the content
title	String	(GenericMediaMetadata) Descriptive title of the content
image	Image	(GenericMediaMetadata) Image for current media
imageSrc	String	(GenericMediaMetadata) URL of image for current media
releaseDate	DateTime	(GenericMediaMetadata) ISO 8601 date and time this content was released
albumArtist	String	(MusicTrackMediaMetadata) Name of the artist associated with the album featuring this track
albumName	String	(MusicTrackMediaMetadata) Album or collection from which this track is drawn
artist	String	(MusicTrackMediaMetadata) Name of the artist associated with the media track
composer	String	(MusicTrackMediaMetadata) Name of the composer associated with the media track
discNumber	Number	(MusicTrackMediaMetadata) Number of the volume (for example, a disc) of the album
trackNumber	Number	(MusicTrackMediaMetadata) Number of the track on the album
creationDate	DateTime	(PhotoMediaMetadata) ISO 8601 date and time this photograph was taken
locationName	String	(PhotoMediaMetadata) Verbal location where the photograph was taken; for example, "Madrid, Spain."
location	Location	(PhotoMediaMetadata) Geographical location of where the photograph was taken
broadcastDate	DateTime	(TvShowMediaMetadata) ISO 8601 date and time this episode was released
episodeNumber	Number	(TvShowMediaMetadata) Episode number (in the season) of the t.v. show
seasonNumber	Number	(TvShowMediaMetadata) Season number of the t.v. show
seriesTitle	String	(TvShowMediaMetadata) Descriptive title of the t.v. series
studio	String	(TvShowMediaMetadata) Studio which released the content

Full Example

services.cfg:

binding.chromecast:callbackUrl=http://192.168.30.58:8080

demo.things:

Thing chromecast:audio:myCC "Lounge Chromecast Audio" [ipAddress="192.168.xxx.xxx", port=xxxx]
Thing chromecast:chromecast:KitchenHomeHub "Kitchen Home Hub" [ipAddress="192.168.xxx.xxx", port=8009]

demo.items:

Dimmer Volume { channel="chromecast:audio:myCC:volume" }
Player Music { channel="chromecast:audio:myCC:control" }

demo.rules:

rule "Turn on kitchen speakers when Chromecast starts playing music"
when
    Item chromecast_chromecast_38e621581281c7675a777e7b474811ed_appId changed
then
    logInfo("RULE.AUDIO", "Chromecast id changed!")

    // 36061251 Pandora
    // 2872939A Google Play Music

    if (chromecast_chromecast_38e621581281c7675a777e7b474811ed_appId.state == "36061251"
    || chromecast_chromecast_38e621581281c7675a777e7b474811ed_appId.state == "2872939A") {
        kitchen_audio_power.sendCommand(ON)
        kitchen_audio_source.sendCommand(1)
    }
end

demo.sitemap:

sitemap demo label="Main Menu" {
    Frame {
        Default item=Music
        Slider item=Volume icon=soundvolume
    }
}

sitemap chromecast label="Chromecasts" {
    Frame label="Family Room: What's Playing" {
        Image item=chromecast_chromecast_38e621581281c7675a777e7b474811ed_image
        Text item=chromecast_chromecast_38e621581281c7675a777e7b474811ed_artist label="Artist [%s]"
        Text item=chromecast_chromecast_38e621581281c7675a777e7b474811ed_title label="Title [%s]"
        Text item=chromecast_chromecast_38e621581281c7675a777e7b474811ed_albumName label="Album [%s]"
    }
}

Rule Action

This binding includes rule actions for casting media.

• playURL(String url)
• playURL(String url, String mimeType)

Examples:

val castActions = getActions("chromecast","chromecast:chromecast:29fcf535da")
val success  = castActions.playURL("http://192.168.1.160:81/mjpg/front1/video.mjpg")
val success2 = castActions.playURL("http://192.168.1.160:81/mjpg/front1/video.mjpg", "image/jpeg")

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