Can You See History on Chromecast?
The Chromecast itself doesn’t store a historical log or record of what’s been played on the device. Simply put: There isn’t a menu you can look through to see viewing history on Chromecast. There’s no need to worry someone can see what you were doing on the Chromecast after you’re done using it. For example, if you’re casting a video from the Chrome browser to your bedroom TV, and then shut off the video and disconnect it from the Chromecast, someone who uses the Chromecast after you won’t be able to see what you were watching. However, it’s important to remember that depending on the device you used to do the casting, the history might be available on that device. If someone goes through your computer and looks through the Chrome history (assuming it hasn’t been cleared), it’s abundantly clear which website you were visiting when you did the casting. There are some tips below for fixing that.
Does Chromecast Track What You Cast?
While your history isn’t logged on the Chromecast, what you’re currently watching can be viewed by any other device on your network. This is a feature of the Chromecast since it’s meant to be used by everyone in the room to share control of media playback. Say you’re streaming to your TV a song from SoundCloud or a video from YouTube. If a phone connected to that same Wi-Fi network opens their Home app and taps the Chromecast, they’ll see the title of the stream. This is true for other apps and sites that have a cast button, too. Chrome on a computer will sometimes show the name of the stream if the cast button is selected. It will say YouTube if you’re on that site, Vudu if you’re streaming movies from there, etc.
Can You Use Chromecast in Incognito?
If you want to hide what you’re watching on Chromecast, you can use Chrome’s incognito mode. Either that or clear your Chrome history when you’re finished. Either will prevent someone from seeing what you’ve watched in the past. Another way to mask what you’re watching on Chromecast is to cast your whole screen. Doing this doesn’t display to other devices what, specifically, you’re doing, but just that you’re using the Chromecast. On their device, they’ll see Now playing versus Not playing. Or, if you’re casting your phone screen, the Chrome web browser will say Screen Mirroring but, again, won’t reveal what’s actually on your screen.
How to Remove Other Devices From Chromecast
Something else you can do to go incognito but still use your Chromecast is to create a guest wireless network and share that password with friends, roommates, family, etc. If the Chromecast remains only on your primary network (not the guest one), but only you know the password, then only you can connect to it. It’s akin to your neighbor having a Chromecast that you can’t use. Not all routers support guest networks and some that do limit how devices can interact with each other. But if yours is compatible, it’s the easiest way to remove other devices from your Chromecast while still letting people use your connection to the internet. You can also do the opposite and move the Chromecast to your guest network. This is preferred if you already have lots of devices connected to the primary network and you want to avoid the hassle of having everyone change their password. It’s easy to do:
