A Major Outage Hits Chromecast Users. If you own a Chromecast 2nd Gen or Chromecast Audio, you may have noticed that your device suddenly stopped working on March 9, 2025. Many users worldwide reported being unable to cast content due to an “untrusted device” error.

The root cause? An expired security certificate that was built into these devices.

Like many internet-connected devices, Chromecast relies on Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates to authenticate its connection to Google’s servers. However, an intermediate certificate authority used by Google for these devices expired on March 9, 2025, at 16:44 UTC.

Because of this, Chromecast 2nd Gen and Chromecast Audio can no longer securely communicate with Google’s servers, rendering them effectively useless for casting.

Google has acknowledged the problem and has stated:

“We’re aware of an emerging issue impacting Chromecast 2nd gen and Chromecast Audio devices, and we are working on a fix.”

Importantly, they also warned users NOT to factory reset their devices, as this will not resolve the problem. Since the expired certificate is part of the device’s software, resetting it only makes recovery harder by wiping all settings without a way to reconnect.

Temporary Workarounds (Not Guaranteed to Work)

Some users, including security researcher Maciej Mensfeld, have suggested a workaround:

1. Change your phone’s date to before March 9, 2025.

2. Attempt to reauthorize the Chromecast using the Google Home app.

3. If successful, restore the correct date on your phone.

However, this method doesn’t work for everyone, and even when it does, services like Spotify may still experience problems.

Google discontinued Chromecast 2nd Gen and Chromecast Audio in 2023 and replaced them with Google TV streaming devices. While official software support has been winding down, many users still rely on these gadgets for streaming.

This outage has led to speculation that Google may not have prioritized renewing the certificate, potentially nudging users toward upgrading. However, certificate expirations have caused similar problems across the tech industry, including Microsoft Surface Pro X cameras in 2023 and Cisco’s SD-WAN appliances.

What Should Users Do Now?

For now, the best course of action is to wait for an official fix from Google. If you’ve already factory reset your device, you may need to follow new setup instructions once Google releases a patch.

This incident highlights the growing reliance on cloud-connected devices and the risks of certificate expirations. Whether this was an oversight or just an unfortunate technical hiccup, it serves as a reminder that even well-designed devices can fail due to expired security protocols.

If Google delivers a fix soon, Chromecast 2nd Gen and Audio owners might get a reprieve. Otherwise, users may have to start looking for alternative streaming solutions.

What are your thoughts on this outage? Is Google handling it well, or should they have prevented this from happening? Let us know in the comments!

Would you like any adjustments or a more detailed technical breakdown?