There’s little indication that the streaming battles will end soon, and the majority of us have chosen a side—or better yet, a tool—to help us manage all of our stuff. It’s hardly unexpected that a lot of people have chosen to utilize Chromecast or a Smart TV with Google TV as its operating system, given how widely used Google is. While most people would concur that these gadgets are excellent at what they do, some may not be aware of some of the hidden functions that might assist them make the most of their purchase, such as the capacity to use your TV as a photo album.
Chromecast and Google TV automatically switch to the built-in Ambient mode, which shows a slideshow of Google-curated stock photos, unless you configure a custom screensaver. In this manner, no single image ever occupies too much space on your screen, assisting you in avoiding troublesome conditions like screen burn-in, which can cause your TV to eventually die. Even though Google chooses which photographs to show very well, you might want something more intimate. One way to enjoy your favorite photos when you’re not using your TV is to use Google Photos as your screen saver. This is simple to accomplish with Chromecast and Google TV.
How to set up Google Photos on Google TV and Chromecast as a screensaver
You can use Google Photos as your screensaver during setup if you recently purchased a Google TV Streamer, Chromecast, or other device that supports Google TV and haven’t set it up yet. You can go back and complete this later if you neglected to do so when setting up your device initially. Using Google TV or the Google Home app, you can accomplish this. Make sure you are logged into your Google account before proceeding.
To establish Google Photos as your screensaver, use the Google Home app and follow these steps:
- On your smartphone, launch the Google Home app.
- Hold down the Chromecast device tile with a tap.
- In the upper right corner of the screen, tap the Settings icon.
- After swiping down and selecting Ambient mode, choose Google Photos.
By clicking the Settings button in the top right corner of the screen and choosing System > Ambient mode > Settings > Google Photos, you can also use Google Photos as your TV’s screensaver. Google Photos will choose the images it thinks are the finest from your Live Albums and Recent Highlights if you don’t tell it which photos to use as your screensaver.
How to customize the screensaver for Google Photos
If you have enabled face groups in the Google Photos app on your phone and would like some further control over what appears as your screensaver, you may make an album that is updated automatically with pictures of your closest friends and family members.
To set a family and friends album as your screensaver, take the following actions:
- In the Google Photos app, select Family & Friends by tapping on the album picker.
- Choose the friends’ and family members’ faces you want to see in the album.
- Press Activate to start the album.
Now, when you select an album in the album picker of your Google Photos app, pictures of your family and friends will show up as your screensaver. The album will automatically update and become a part of your Google Photos collection whenever you take new images of them. Regretfully, not all states or nations have access to this feature.
Favouriting at least four images from your collection is another way to guarantee that you get the Google Photos you choose as your screensaver. Once you’ve done that, your screensaver will be these pictures. By switching the personal photo curation setting to Live Albums only, you can disable the curation of private and shared albums. You can also utilize private and shared albums as your screensaver.
