Unable to cast Now TV to Sony Bravia using Chromecast

[Pontecorvo]

Now TV subscriber in London, UK, having endless trouble viewing Now TV.

I subscribed to Now TV entertainment package (£9.99 p/m) three months ago and cannot solve viewing problems. There’s no way to tell whether I will be able to watch a show on the TV or not. I am just about to throw in the towel.

Here’s how it goes.

Turn on TV (Sony Bravia)

Make sure Chromecast is connected via HDMI and turned on with white light showing.

I go to Google Home on my phone (Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact) and find the “family room” and order it to cast. I also tell the phone to use Chromecast.

Screen on my phone is now cast successfully to the TV.

I can now view on the TV BBC iPlayer shows, Channel Four on Demand, and anything on my phone.

I now launch Now TV on the phone. Now TV appears on the TV screen.

The “cast” symbol appears on the phone and I press it having started the show I want to watch.

The “cast”  then stops and the message appears (on phone and TV screen).

“Something went wrong. Try signing out and in again.[words to that effect]

Error code 1.

Alternatively, I get “you have reached your streaming limit. Turn off your other devices and sign in again.”

I then sign out of Now TV on the phone and go to my laptop (MacBook Pro, which was off until now), load Now TV, sign in, and then “sign out of all devices” and I then sign out of Now TV on the laptop and turn it off. [I did this in response to a community post which said that Now often listed devices even though they had been turned off and weren’t in use].

Return to TV and attempt to get connected again. Same thing happens including the message about me using too many devices or exceeding streaming limit.

I read something on one of these forums suggested deleting the NowTV app on the phone. I did this and downloaded a new one on the phone. Did the same on the laptop. Still no luck.

I have managed to get connected from time to time and to watch shows. But I cannot predict when it will work and when it won’t. I have tried starting the different apps in different sequences, but nothing works.

[Saint1976]

@Pontecorvo if you don't have a Boost membership you are restricted to using one device at a time to view content.

This causes a conflict with Chromecast as it sees it as a second device in conjunction with your phone.

As I understand it, you need to ignore your Chromecast, open the Now app and select what you want to watch. Once the stream starts on your phone, then press the Chromecast icon on the stream. That way it's dealt as a single device.

https://help.nowtv.com/article/what-devices-are-compatible-with-chromecast

[Saint1976]

@Pontecorvo apologies, I got the above round the wrong way. You need to open the app, then cast, then start the show you want.

https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Set-top-boxes-Smart-TVs/Chromecast-counts-as-a-device/td-p/408855

[Pontecorvo]

Thanks Saint. I am not at home now so can't try what you suggest right now, but let's be clear. You are saying: open Now TV, start the show, then push the cast button, then start  Chromecast? 

[Saint1976]

@Pontecorvo click the link in the second comment I made where someone has given instructions (the comment highlighted as a solution)  on how to circumvent the device limit.