androidactions-on-googlegoogle-castgoogle-cast-sdk

Displaying data on the Nest Hub: Using Cast SDK or Assistant SDK?


I would like to display some information from a Firebase database on the screen of my Nest Hub.

Let's say I want to scroll through 10 items and display their details every 5s.

If I am not wrong, I am tied to only 2 possibilities

  1. Assistant Actions

I read the doc and made some POC, but it seems overcompliacted, I have to create a project, that I cannot deploy publicly, create a Firebase function to create the webhook, and I don't really have complex Assistant commands to send, so it seems overcomplicated at first sight.

=> Maybe I missed a way to make that simple?

  1. Cast SDK

As an Android dev familiar with Java and now Kotlin, this seems easier, but as far as I understand, I can only cast Media to the Nest. Should I then create a layout with all my info, turn them to image files, and finally create a slideshow for the Nest Hub?

Thanks for any advise


Solution

  • Part of this answer depends on your use-case. Creating an Action via Actions Builder would give you a fair amount of flexibility over the interaction model, as it will support voice commands and you'd be able to trigger it directly from the device ("Talk to X").

    Creating something via Cast may be easier, as you're just projecting content (a webview). While easier, you'd need to be able to start it from another device and can't control it with voice. Control can be done through the casting device.

    Based on the use-case you've given, as a passive display, I would suggest going with the Cast SDK. You can look at implementing a custom web receiver to manage your web app.