Remember Samsung's Smart View app? It's OK if you don't - it's basically a mix of a remote control and some Chromecast-style functionality, exclusively for use with both Samsung phones/tablets and Samsung smart televisions. It's the kind of cross-platform"synergy" that gets a lot of play in press releases and on-stage product reveals, but is rarely used by actual customers. The app listing in the Play Store is plagued with negative reviews complaining of frequent bugs and infrequent updates.

Samsung is apparently ready to start over, and I mean that literally: the new version of Smart View gets a completely separate listing from the older app (which is still available to download at the time of writing). It also seems to be somewhat conservative, because the new "beta" app includes only a fraction of the functionality of the old one. The remote control section is gone, as is the ability to mirror video from the television back to your phone or tablet. Now Smart View only sends photos, music, and videos from a mobile device to a compatible television. You know, like a Chromecast.

The new version of the app at least looks a little better, with a modern layout and some nice colors. The newer version is also compatible with some non-Samsung devices... though support seems to be a little spotty. My ancient TouchPad, the original NVIDIA SHIELD, and the Nexus 5 are compatible, but my Nexus 6 and 7 are not. The casting functionality works with Samsung smart TV models from 2011 and later.