Google has renamed Chromecast’s “Backdrop”. It is now called “Ambient Mode”. This page has a new and better design as well. It is now easier to change settings and tweak the appearance of the Ambient Mode.
Ambient Mode
The ambient mode is what appears when your Chromecast is online but not in use. You can set this to show photos from your Google Photos account (which is my favorite), pictures from an art gallery or a few experimental sources. This includes Facebook albums, Flickr albums and also a Low-bandwidth mode.
I have added a few pictures into an album specifically created for this purpose. When my Chromecast is connected and idle, my TV becomes a huge photo frame.
There used to be an option to show news headlines in Ambient mode, but that has been removed with the redesign. Other options available on the Ambient Mode page are:
- Weather: Hide, display C, F or both
- Time: Hide or show
- Personal photo data (owner’s name and album name): Hide or show
- Slideshow speed: 10 seconds to 10 minutes, you can pick one of the available options.
So, the next time you open up the Google Home app, look for Ambient Mode and not Backdrops. Questions? Drop me a comment and we can discuss further!