Chromecast with Google TV users are getting a cool free upgrade to end the year

Who doesn't love the tradition of brands releasing year-in-review lists? T3 certainly does. After the recent launch of its Year in Search recap video, Google is now bringing the yearly review celebrations to Chromecast with Google TV through a new playlist.

From today, Chromecast with Google TV users can view "Year in Search" playlists from their home screens, with the “Year in Search: A Collection of This Year’s Trending Movies” taking center stage. Users can use this playlist to delve into 2021's top trending movies and enjoy a hefty dose of nostalgia with it.

Google is no stranger to end-of-year content recaps, with YouTube Rewind representing the gold standard of these types of lists before it closed down. "Year in Search" as the name suggests is Google's new mechanism for highlighting the most searched content of 2021. As spotted by the folks at 9to5Google, this year's rundown fuses TV and movies into one overarching playlist, where prior to this Google had created standalone playlists for both TV and movies.

To celebrate the year-end, Google has also added a Google Trends listing that sorts 2021 search stats by country. And that's not all: You can also find an end-of-year magazine in collaboration with Pop-Up Magazine, which is another tool through which Google is summing up your year's personal media consumption.

Disney Plus leads the pack

Disney Plus titles reportedly lead the rundown of movies and shows on the Year in Search. This is a testament to just how far the streaming service has come, taking the battle to streaming giants like Netflix which has this year released some mind-bogglingly popular titles like Squid Game and follow-up series for existing big-hitters like Money Heist. 

Disney Plus has also just rolled out a new update to its platform, which now adds support for Apple's SharePlay feature – something that's worthwhile checking out as we grapple with more potential lockdowns and remote-based socializing. The Apple TV+ app arriving on Sky Q set-top boxes and Sky Glass TVs means Apple's streaming subscription service is now available on the Sky TV platform. 

In terms of other devices' release timings, the new playlist hasn’t yet rolled out to Google TV on Android, but we're optimistic that it'll be released sometime in the not-too-distant future.