I've had enough of Wi-Fi casting

When Google started to release products in which you could cast video and audio via your phone, this seemed to me (and many others at the time) as a far better alternative to Bluetooth. Bluetooth speakers were around and so too were Bluetooth headphones, but in the early to mid 2010s (basically pre AirPods - as much as I hate giving Apple credit) Bluetooth still felt like a bit of an afterthought for these kind of things. The connection wasn't great, and the sound quality certainly would suffer.

Connection strength is still a consideration today, but there are different options to favour this over quality, or finding a good middle ground. As for quality, this too can be a balance, but much higher quality Bluetooth is now a thing - unless your Apple who don't acknowledge the existence of anything above AAC (see, I can still find ways to criticise Apple).

Although, it is the convenience factor of Bluetooth that I have very recently found particularly appealing and has seen me largely move away from using the casting features on the Google devices I still have scattered around the home. I haven't purchased a new smart speaker since the end of 2020, so just over five years. Partly because, well, Google hasn't actually released anything new in this area, but mostly because I have something in every room.

Yet, casting just isn't what it was. It has been a bit patchy in the past, but this was more due to my router and WiFi setup. In the past year or so though, Google and other companies (such as Netflix) just don't care that much about casting (or in Netflix's case just removed it). Then there is the general enshittification of everything Google does where it either deliberately makes it worse, or forgets about it.

When I'm listening to Podcasts via Pocket Casts via casting, often the speaker will carry on, but it has disconnected with my phone, so when I go to carry on listening later on, it's not where I had got to. Yes, these are just annoyances, but these things should just work.

You know what I can do that doesn't have this problem, just using Bluetooth to play the podcast directly from my phone. Can't lose my place this way. Even when trying to play the radio Bluetooth is becoming the better as my "smart clock" will randomly disconnect, not only from playing the radio source but also just disconnecting from my router, even though my phone that is right next to it has no connection issues. So again, playing via Bluetooth works better, and continues to play even if the "smart" speaker loses WiFi connection.

Because of all of this, I'm now considering getting a radio clock. Something I've never actually owned. I've had and still have CD players that have radio's, clocks, and alarms, but never a proper clock radio (I never know which way round it's meant to be as they serve both functions kind of equally). The one I'm looking at crucially has Bluetooth as well, so when I'm not using it for the radio (which I've been doing for my cats benefit), I can also use it for podcasts.

I've been inspired to look into this because my small CD player I have behind me in my office has all of the other features (as well as aux input where I have my occasionally used Chromecast Audio) as well as the ability to charge via USB (although only at 5W) which is also something my "Smart Clock" has. I don't use it to charge my phone - its intended purpose - because it's too slow, but it is very useful for charging my Fitbit for example or other lower powered USB devices.

I'm going to give it some more thought during the week. If I do get the clock radio, I won't be throwing away my "smart clock". I'll rotate it into another room where having a clock will still be useful and move a different smart speaker into the bedroom. This might sound counter to my argument, but it will only be used so that I can turn the light off and to check the weather.