How to change the screensaver on the Chromecast with Google TV

Chromecast and Google TV combine the concepts of Chromecast dongles and Android TV devices. This means they have both “ambient mode” and screen savers. We’ll show you how to use both, which takes some research.

In order to merge Chromecast and Android TV, Google has moved a lot. However, Google TV is built on top of Android TV, so all Android TV settings are still present. The screen saver is one example.

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The Chromecast with the Google TV screen saver is called “Ambient Mode” and is linked to the setup process that takes place in the Google Home app. Ambient mode can be a Google Photos slideshow or an art gallery.

Google TV is still Android TV at its core, so you can install third-party screen savers from the Google Play Store. However, Google hid the ability to change the screen saver on the Chromecast with Google TV. We can still do it, but the method is indirect.

Before we dive into third-party screensavers, let’s customize the simpler Ambient Mode settings. Select your profile icon in the upper right corner of the home screen.

Then select “Settings” from the context menu.

Scroll down and select “System.”

Finally, choose “Ambient mode”.

You’ll see three options here: Google Photos, Art Gallery, and Experimental. Select one to use it.

• Google Photos: This must be configured through the Google Home app. Read our guide on how to do this.
• Art Gallery: Several categories with different types of photography.
• Experimental: Activate “Low bandwidth mode” to save data.

That’s all there is to changing ambient modes, but this is where things get a bit tricky. “Ambient Mode” is actually just one of the screen savers you can use.

The ability to download a third-party screen saver is still available on Google TV. You just can’t do it from the Settings menu. You need to open screen saver settings from the screen saver app you want to use.

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First of all, we need to install a screen saver app. Installing an app on a Google TV device is not as easy as opening the Play Store. Read our guide on installing apps and use “screen saver” as your search term.

Then open the app. This is where the process will be different depending on which screen saver app you want to use. What we are looking for is an option to set the app as a screen saver. Here are some examples of some screen saver apps.

And you’ll notice that some apps use the term “Daydream,” which was the old term for the screen saver. Keep an eye out for that too.

Whatever parameter is labeled, selecting it should take you to the Ambient Mode screen.

We can now see that “Ambient Mode” is just a screen saver that has been enabled by default. Select “Screen Saver” to continue.

You can now select the screen saver application of your choice. Making the selection can open the screen saver settings for that app.

Finally, you can decide how many minutes of inactivity to allow before activating the screen saver. Select “When to start”.

Choose one of the time increments.

It’s weird that Google has hidden the screen saver options, but at least it’s still possible to use them.

RELATED: How to use Google Photos as a screensaver on Google TV