17 million Chromecasts and 1.5 billion content streams on, Google is launching new tools that will help developers enhance video and gaming experiences on its streaming device.

The new Remote Display API (beta) allows your smartphone or tablet to act as a second screen and negates the need for it to mirror what’s on your TV. Credit: Google

That means your device can display intuitive game controls or put image editing tools in the palm of your hand.

There’s also a Game Manager API that makes it easier to build multiplayer games. It lets developers synchronize game states across many players’ devices on both Android and iOS.

Credit: Google

In addition, new autoplay and content queuing APIs allow apps to stream multiple pieces of music and video continuously, while allowing users greater control over their playlists.

These APIs are available for Android today, with updates for iOS and Chrome scheduled to arrive in a matter of days on the Google Cast Developers site.

➤ Announcing new Google Cast APIs [Google Developers Blog]

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