Use your PC as a Chromecast.
Strictly, you cannot: a Chromecast is a device Google certifies to receive casts, and a computer sends them but does not receive them. For YouTube there is another door. The Cast button in the YouTube app also lists screens linked with a TV code, and Venfy makes your computer one of those. Open venfy.app/tv, link the app once, and the Cast button finds your PC with no Chromecast.
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Make the YouTube app's Cast button find your PC
For YouTube, which is the app this works with.
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Open venfy.app/tv on the PC
In the browser you already use. Press Start, and a TV code appears. If the PC is plugged into a TV, that is where it shows.
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Link the YouTube app, once
On your phone, tap the Cast icon in the YouTube app. Choose Link with TV code, or Add a device in some versions, and type the code.
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Cast to Venfy.app
Tap Cast on any video. Your PC is in the list as Venfy.app, next to any real Chromecast you have.
Why a computer is not a Chromecast
Casting has two ends. The sender is an app on your phone, or Chrome on a computer. The receiver is a Chromecast, or a TV with Google Cast built in: a device Google has certified, and one that proves it whenever a sender connects.
A computer is only ever a sender. Chrome can cast a tab to a TV, and nothing lets it be the TV. Programs that imitated a Chromecast on a PC stopped working years ago, when Google began to check for that proof.
So a program that promises to turn a PC into a Chromecast receiver is nearly always doing something else: receiving a mirror of your phone's screen.
What works, depending on what you want to play
There is no one answer for every app. There is one for most of them.
- YouTube
- The one app with a second way in. Its Cast list includes screens linked with a TV code, and Venfy gives your computer one. It is real casting: the computer plays the video and the phone is the remote.
- Spotify
- The Spotify program for computers appears in the phone app's list of devices. The computer plays, the phone controls, and nothing else is needed.
- Netflix, Disney+ and other video apps
- Their apps will not cast to a computer. Open their website on it instead. The remote for that is the keyboard.
- Your phone's whole screen
- That is mirroring, not casting. Windows can receive an Android phone over Miracast, and a recent Mac can receive an iPhone over AirPlay.
When a real Chromecast is the better answer
If you cast from many different apps to a TV, a streaming device with Google Cast is the right tool. It does exactly this.
If what you watch is YouTube, and the screen is a laptop or a computer already plugged into the TV, you do not need one.
Questions
Is there a Chromecast receiver app for Windows?
Not a real one. Programs sold as Chromecast receivers for a PC receive screen mirroring, usually over AirPlay or Miracast. For YouTube, Venfy puts a Windows PC in the app's Cast list without any of them.
Can Chrome on my computer receive a cast?
No. Chrome sends: it can cast a tab or a video to a TV. It cannot appear as a place to cast to on your phone.
Can I turn an old PC into a Chromecast for my TV?
For YouTube, yes: connect the PC to the TV with an HDMI cable, open venfy.app/tv on it and cast from the YouTube app. For other apps the PC plays their websites, but their Cast buttons will not find it.
Does Venfy use the Chromecast protocol?
No, and it does not imitate a Chromecast. It registers the page as a screen with YouTube, the way the YouTube app on a smart TV does. That is why only the YouTube app can cast to it.
Will my PC show up in Google Home?
No. It is not a Cast device, so it is not in Google Home and other apps do not list it. It appears in the YouTube app, as Venfy.app.