Google’s 10-year-old Chromecast is busted, but a fix is coming

The 2nd-gen Chromecast stopped working this week, but it's not over yet.

Google recently killed the Chromecast brand, but the dongles live on—mostly. Owners of the second-generation Chromecast and Chromecast Audio have noticed this week that their beloved streaming gadgets are no longer working. It appears that Google configured the devices with a single 10-year certificate that has now expired, and updating it is no simple feat. Google is looking into a fix, and there's nothing you can do in the meantime. In fact, trying to fix this yourself might only make things worse.

Beginning this week, attempting to connect your phone to a second-gen Chromecast or Chromecast Audio results in untrusted device or authentication errors. The unhelpful popup suggests this could be due to outdated firmware, which is technically true. Some wondered if this was simply Google's way of putting the decade-old device out to pasture.

One industrious Redditor has identified the dongle's certificate chain with a line reading "NotAfter: Mar 9 16:44:39 2025 GMT." Google may have included a 10-year certificate with the intention of updating it, or perhaps plans to switch to a rotating certificate fell through the cracks, or maybe no one had a plan because Google didn't expect these $35 devices to still be so popular a decade later—all things are possible in Google product support.

The unhelpfulness of Google's error message may have gotten some people in deeper trouble. A common troubleshooting step with Chromecasts is to factory reset them, as it only takes a moment to reconfigure one via the Home app. However, these devices cannot be configured in their current state because they can't connect to your phone, turning the dongles into round bricks. That could make any Google effort to revive the device much more difficult.

Speaking of Google, it has acknowledged the issue and confirmed that a fix is in the works. "We're aware of an issue with Chromecast v2 and Chromecast Audio devices," a Google spokesperson said. "We will share an update once we have more details about the issue and the fix."

You can keep an eye on the support thread in the official support forums for updates on that front.

Second-gen Chromecast still supported

Google stopped supporting the original 2013 Chromecast after 10 years, so it would not have been surprising to see the second gen officially join the Google Graveyard this year. Perhaps that was even Google's intention. However, there was no announcement or offer of Google Store credit for an alternative device—a common tactic when Google kills a device people still use. However, the Chromecast just stopped working when its certificate expired. This naturally upset Chromecast fans.

The error messages are not helpful.

Credit: Google

There are plenty of people yelling at Google online about this because the devices remain hugely popular, and that's no surprise. The 2015 streamers sold millions of units before they were removed from sale in 2019. Unless you demand 4K video, the 2015 Chromecast still does its job. It has slightly slow but serviceable Wi-Fi, and TVs still have HDMI ports. So there are probably millions of second-gen Chromecasts dangling from the backs of TVs around the world. And there is no modern equivalent of the Chromecast Audio in Google's lineup, a device that people still covet and which regularly sells for almost $100 on eBay.

That's the great thing about the Chromecast. Unlike most Google products—and to borrow a phrase—the Chromecast just works. There's no constantly changing, ad-infested home screen, nor is there a remote to get lost in the couch or burn through batteries. You simply connect with your phone and go. Yes, these models are almost a decade old, but there's no reason to toss them in the garbage. The fact that so many people are upset about the outage is a tribute to the reliability of the Chromecast paradigm.

Legacy Chromecast fans have reason for hope, though. Google tells Ars Technica that it has not abandoned these devices. Regardless of its initial intentions, the company is committed to fixing this certificate issue, and the dongle could still have more life in it. "We still support Chromecast v2," Google said.

We can't say how long that support commitment will last, but this product will have an even longer lifespan than the iconic original Chromecast dongle.

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