Chromecast is one of the best devices Google has released. This tiny HDMI ‘skewer’ lets you give an old TV a second life and he’s been with us for a whole decade. In fact, Google has decided that this first Chromecast will no longer be supported from now on, although it will continue to run smoothly for now.

In 2020, they added a change to the concept thanks to Chromecast with Google TV. It was no longer just a device for sending content from a mobile phone, tablet or PC, but a complete multimedia center with a complete operating system. The system is great though the device has one weak point: the controller. It has several buttons, one focused on YouTube (of course) and the other on Netflix. If it falls short, we will teach you how to change the buttons of the Chromecast Google TV to add the shortcuts you want.

How to customize Chromecast Google TV remote

The remote of the new Chromecast has a minimalist design that some manufacturers such as Samsung follow on their televisions. It has a few buttons, but these are enough to control both the system and some parameters of the television.

You can control the volume, mute the TV, turn it on and off and change the input source. However, I don’t use the volume controls or the input select buttonso they are useless and totally wasted buttons on my unit.

Also, I mentioned earlier that he has direct access to Netflix and… why Netflix? Well, the business case is clear, but It is very possible to buy this device, you do not have Netflix and eat a button. which in your case has absolutely no value. This is where the Button Mapper app comes into play.

Chromecast is an app that you can easily download from the Play Store and, as the name suggests, lets you: remap your controller’s buttons. It’s useful on a TV with Android TV because there are tons of buttons you might not really use, but on a Chromecast Google TV this makes a lot of sense so you never go through the interface again.

Before I tell you how I got how to change the function of buttons on chromecast remotebut you also have a video where I show the process just above:

• The first step is to download the app. Like I said, it’s available in the Play Store – this is the link – and you won’t have to look for an APK or anything like that. Install and open.
• When you do this, it will automatically ask you for accessibility permissions. Scroll until you find ‘System’ ➝ ‘Accessibility’ ➝ ‘Button Mapper’ to export them. Activate the ‘Enable’ option and as soon as you activate the app will open automatically.
• You’ll see a few options in the menu, but it’s the ‘Add button’ that interests us. Select it, press the select button on the remote again and a message will be displayed instructing you to press the button you want to change.
• Here you can press any key except the direction, selection, back or Google Assistant buttons. That’s it, you can start playing with the actions of the controller. If you want to delete the actions of a button, you have to go back to that remap menu and select the little trash icon that appears next to each button you remap.

It is a pity that the remote does not allow to change the function of the Google Assistant button, but nothing really happens as you can perform up to three actions with each of the customizable buttons. For example, you can put the following configuration on the Netflix button:

• One Tap HBO Max
• Two taps Apple TV+
• Press and hold Movistar+

On the mute button, for example, I have cartoons With one press to open Disney+, two presses to open Crunchyrroll, and two presses to change the source (I didn’t touch the original function in case I’d use it at some point), I have direct access to all installed apps. Open Play Store by long pressing.

Ah! Sometimes You may get a warning about the Pro version in Button Mapper. you can unlock more options but you don’t need to enjoy the basic features which is simple remapping.

For this reason, You already know that you can get more juice at the command of the Chromecast Google TV. changing the function of the buttons. Agility changes completely when using apps.

Xataka on Android | Android TV is my favorite Smart TV operating system and you can find it in all these brands

Xataka on Android | This is how I made my stupid monitor smart with Android TV with the help of Chromecast.