Det här projektet beskriver hur Google Cast-stöd implementeras till en iOS-applikation som använder sig av ramverket SwiftUI. Idén som ligger till grund för projektet tillhandahölls av BookBeat AB eftersom de i dagsläget saknar stöd för Google Cast i sin iOS-applikation. Projektet inleds med en undersökningsfas där en demonstrationsapplikation utvecklats. Demonstrationsapplikationen består av två delar, en sändarapplikation och en mottagarapplikation. Sändarapplikationen utvecklas i programspråket Swift med ramverket SwiftUI och mottagarapplikationen utvecklas i HTML5 och JavaScript. Resultatet av projektet är en demonstrationsapplikation som har funktionalitet att spela upp radiokanaler från Sveriges Radio lokalt på den enhet den körs på, eller strömma radiokanaler till en Google Cast-enhet / This project describes how Google Cast support is implemented to an iOS-application that uses the SwiftUI framework. The idea for the project was provided by BookBeat AB as they currently lack support for Google Cast in their iOS-application. The project begins with a research phase where a demonstration application has been developed. The demonstration application consists of two parts, a sender application and a receiver application. The sender application was developed in the programming language Swift and the framework SwiftUI. The receiver application was developed with HTML5 and JavaScript. The result from the project was the demonstration application that has the functionality to stream the content of radio channels from Sveriges Radio locally on the device it runs on, or stream the media to Google Cast devices.

Detta arbete förklarar funktionaliteten bakom Google Cast-teknologi och ger en inblick i de komponenter som krävs för att utveckla en media-applikation i Androidmiljö med stöd för Google Cast. Google Cast-teknologin tillåter media-användare att fjärrspela angiven media mot en så kallad Chromecast-mottagare. Median kan strömmas från en annan enhet som kan vara en telefon, dator eller surfplatta. Projektet tillhandahölls av företaget BookBeat vars kunder under en längre tid önskat stöd för Google Cast i företagets Androidapplikation. Målet med projektet var att utveckla en radioapplikation i en Androidmiljö, med stöd för Google Cast. Syftet med målet var att förstå hur konceptet fungerar och att utforma en exempelapplikation som BookBeat skulle kunna använda som referens i deras framtida implementation av Google Cast. Målet blev uppfyllt och förhoppningen är att exemplet kan komma att användas av BookBeat. / The purpose of this essay is to explain the functionality behind the Google Cast technology and give insight into the different components that a media application in an Android environment with Google Cast support requires. Google Cast technology allows media consumers to remotely play arbitrary media against a so-called Chromecast receiver, from a different device, which can be a phone, computer, or surf pad. The company BookBeat assigned the project, whose customers have been asking for Google Cast support in the companies Android application for a while. The goal of the project was to develop a radio application in an Android environment with Google Cast support. The purpose of the goal was to gain insight into how the concept worked and to develop an example application that BookBeat would be able to use as a reference in their future implementation of Google Cast. The goal was achieved, and the hope is that this example will be of use for BookBeat.

The newly released Google Chromecast has generated an increasing amount of interest for so called second-screen experiences in the market. Although the technology behind such experiences has existed for a couple of years, end users are now truly starting to grasp the concept and benefits of multi-screen. The company, at which the thesis was performed at, provides a cloud-based messaging solution for Internet connected devices, which enables multi-screen use cases. To increase the amount of supported platforms in the solution, new technologies frequently needs to be integrated. In this thesis I have performed an exploratory research & development project with the aim to integrate the Google Cast technology in this multi-screen solution. The fundamental difference in how the two ecosystems were designed resulted in a companion device framework that acted as a wrapper over the technologies. The framework was implemented on the Android platform together with a set of demo applications. The proposed solution should be seen as a starting point for integrating different multi-screen technologies within a single companion device framework. While combining these technologies, a fundamental difference in the user experience between them became apparent. The Google Cast ecosystem relies on the companion device as the interaction point for the end user, whereas television (TV) applications usually have the main interaction point on the actual TV itself via a dedicated remote control. Having this kind of inconsistency within the same set of applications increases the risk of confusion among end users. Therefore I suggest that development of such multi-screen experiences, that combines these technologies, should strive for a high consistency throughout the whole user experience, independent of platforms and technology.

The thesis is focused on the characteristics of the key features of the operating system Google Chrome OS and on the evaluation of deployment of this operating system in practise. The theoretical part describes the purpose and philosophy of the commercial operating system Google Chrome OS and its relation with Chrome web browser. The connection with open-source projects Chromium and Chromium OS is explained. Details of application development and deployment options, in the form of virtualization and domain administration, are analysed. The practical part applies theoretical knowledge from the development of applications for Chrome OS to create thin client application for remote control of hardware sensor over the internet. This sensor is designed and built on the platform Arduino. The sensor measures the temperature and humidity of the ambient air and remote controls high-voltage switching relays. Communication over TCP/IP uses modern MQTT protocol, for which the server is configured with MQTT Broker Mosquitto. The next section demonstrates the procedure for building a customized build of Chromium OS from the publicly provided Google source codes. Based on the evaluation of the acquired theoretical and practical knowledge, I assess the possibility of deploying the Chrome OS in private and commercial areas.