Tech giant Google has taken the rare step in warning customers of its popular Chromecast streaming devices after widespread reports confirmed they are not functioning properly.

Owners of the Chromecast 2nd gen and Chromecast Audio dongles have been complaining their gadgets are not working, preventing people from streaming video content from their phones and tablets to TVs.

Chromecasts work by plugging in to the HDMI ports on TVs, allowing users to ‘cast’ video or audio from their mobile devices to be enjoyed on a bigger screen.

9to5Google reported the issue, showing Google had emailed affected customers to apologise but stopped short of explaining the exact problem.

“We’re contacting you because of a disruption affecting Chromecast (2nd gen) and Chromecast Audio devices,” Google said in the email. “We apologise for the issue and understand your frustration. We are working to roll out a fix as soon as possible and will share updates and guidance on the Nest Community page. We appreciate your patience as we resolve this issue.”

Users who normally enjoy seamless streaming have been seeing an error on their TVs that reads: “Untrusted device: [name] couldn't be verified. This could be caused by outdated device firmware.”

Now, Google has warned owners of these older Chromecast 2nd gen and Audio devices not to reset them.

“We're aware of an emerging issue impacting Chromecast 2nd gen and Chromecast Audio devices, and we are working on a fix,” the firm said on its Google Nest Community forum.

“Do not factory reset your device - we will keep you all updated when the fix rolls out. If you have already factory reset your device, we will provide instructions to set your device back up as soon as possible.”

This could be frustrating for some Chromecast owners given factory resetting the device is not an unusual troubleshooting step in getting it to work again properly.

Google has not given a timeline for the fix, potentially leaving many customers unable to stream Netflix, Disney Plus, YouTube and other services. Video Chromecast devices are handy ways to cast content to TVs that don’t have smart apps, relying on smartphones or tablets as the source device for the popular video apps instead.

Chromecast dongles are also a good cheap alternative to set top streaming boxes such as Apple TV or devices such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Google discontinued its Chromecast line up in August 2024, and you can no longer buy Chromecast branded devices. Instead, Google now sells the Google TV Streamer, a £99 set top box with remote that rivals the Fire TV Stick. This is more expensive than the affected Chromecast 2nd gen, which cost just £30 when it was released back in 2015, the same year the similarly affected Chromecast Audio came out.

On the one hand, it’s admirable that devices now a decade old were, till this week, still functioning properly. But scores of users will now be frustrated that Google is taking so long to issue a fix to the bug that is preventing these Chromecasts from working. Going by what Google says, you’ll have to sit tight and wait for a fix.