One of the best Meta Quest features is being removed

Casting gameplay from a Meta Quest 3 to a Chromecast on a TV using the Meta Quest app on a Google Pixel 8 Pro
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Update 1/13/24: Meta has officially reinstated Chromecast support.

What you need to know

  • Many users are reporting that the option to cast to a Chromecast has been removed from their Meta Quest headsets.
  • Official documentation now states that "Chromecast is not fully supported with Meta Quest."
  • Meta now recommends casting to a phone then mirroring to your device of choice.

Ever since the original Meta Quest, it's been easy to show everyone what you're doing in VR by casting to a Chromecast-enabled TV. Unfortunately, many users on social media have been reporting that the feature is no longer available, leaving Meta Quest players with the option to only cast to a smartphone or a computer.

We've written Meta about the issue but didn't hear back in time for publishing. Official documentation now states that "Chromecast is not fully supported with Meta Quest," leaving little doubt that Meta is slowly removing this key feature on headsets like the Meta Quest 3 for some reason.

Instead of directly casting to a Chromecast-enabled TV from your headset, Meta now wants players to first cast to the Meta Quest app on their smartphone or tablet. Once you see gameplay casting appear, Meta then recommends mirroring your device's display to the larger screen of your choice.

The new way to cast to a TV from the Meta Quest app

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

While this adds several steps to what used to be a simple casting process, there are a few positive points to the new process. Casing to the Meta Quest app allows VR players to still take screenshots and record videos. Casting directly to a Chromecast disabled this feature. Recording can also be done directly from the Meta Quest app on a phone or tablet.

This also means Meta Quest headsets can cast gameplay on Apple, Samsung, Miracast, and other types of devices instead of being relegated to just Google Chromecasts. Additionally, this method seems to be more reliable than direct Chromecasting, as direct Chromecasting was prone to crashing randomly.

Casting is one of the first things you should do with your Meta Quest 3 when you get it, but we're still not sure why Meta looks to be removing the feature instead of encouraging players to use the new method, instead. Until we hear for sure, stick with using the app first.

Nicholas Sutrich
Senior Content Producer — Smartphones & VR
Nick started with DOS and NES and uses those fond memories of floppy disks and cartridges to fuel his opinions on modern tech. Whether it's VR, smart home gadgets, or something else that beeps and boops, he's been writing about it since 2011. Reach him on Twitter or Instagram @Gwanatu
  • Mooncatt
    Got one of our kids a Quest 2 for Christmas and loved that it naively casted direct to our tv, especially because it meant I didn't have to babysit the casting and allowed me to do other things. Couple days and updates later, Meta broke it. It basically kills much of the enjoyment about the system. At least give us the option of how to cast based on our needs.

    One thing I may try is side loading Chrome on the tv and see if I can trick it into thinking it's casting to a PC since that seems to be the only requirement.
    Reply
  • MonkeyMafia
    I just got a Meta Quest 3, everything is up to date and I can still cast just fine to my Google TV.
    Reply
  • Mooncatt
    Just an update that it's now completely broken for me. I updated the app today (not sure if the Quest 2 itself updated anything, and now the Meta app on my phone doesn't even see the headset to connect. Same if I try to initiate from the headset. So I can't even cast to my phone, much less mirroring to the tv.

    Lovely meta, killing off a feature that worked because "it's not stable," in favor of a half baked feature that doesn't work at all.
    Reply