Setting up CastHub at Home is four screens on your phone and one code on the TV. Most families have the first TV showing photos within ten minutes of signing in. This page goes step by step, then covers a second home, inviting family, the calendar link for Google, Apple and Outlook, quiet hours, and what to do when something is not right.

Before you start

You need a family at family.cast-hub.com (create one and start the 14-day trial; pricing and the trial), and a TV with the CastHub app on it or an Amazon Signage Stick. Which TVs and players work lists every option.

Step 1. Put the app on your phone

On an iPhone, open family.cast-hub.com in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. On Android, open it in Chrome and accept the install prompt. Sign in with the email and password the family was created with. The app has four tabs: Family, Albums, Cass and People.

Step 2. Add a TV

On the TV, open the CastHub app from its app store, or plug in a Signage Stick and connect it to Wi-Fi. The TV shows a six-digit code. On your phone, open the Family tab, tap Add a TV, type the code, give the TV a name you will recognise from another city (Kitchen TV, Mum’s den) and choose which home it is in. For the first TV, create the home at the same step. The TV now appears in the Family tab.

Step 3. Make an album and add photos

Open the Albums tab, tap New album and name it. Open it and tap Add: photos and clips from your phone’s library (iCloud Photos included on an iPhone), a PDF or PowerPoint from Files, or the family calendar. Edit album sets the order and how many seconds each item shows.

Step 4. Choose what each TV shows

Each TV shows one album. From the album, choose which TVs show it; or open a TV in the Family tab and pick its album there. Several TVs can show the same album. The TV starts playing within moments if it is online.

Add a second home

Pair the TV in the other house the same way and, at the “which home” step, add a new home. If you are setting up a grandparent’s TV from your own house, pair it before you deliver it, or have them read you the code over the phone. Once it is paired, everything else about that TV is done from your phone, wherever you are.

Invite the family

Open the People tab, tap Invite, enter a name and email, and choose which homes the person belongs to. They get an email to set a password, then sign in to the app on their own phone and can add photos to any album and manage the TVs of their homes. The person who created the family is the owner and holds the plan; everyone else is a contributor.

Show the family calendar on a TV

CastHub at Home shows the calendar you already keep; it needs the calendar’s link in iCal format, pasted once. Then add the calendar to an album, choose the week, the next three days or the month, and that album’s TVs show it. The TV reads the calendar again about every 15 minutes. The calendar needs the TV to be online and does not show on a Samsung TV or a Roku.

Google Calendar

On a computer, open Google Calendar, then Settings. In the left column, click the calendar you want to show. Scroll to “Secret address in iCal format” and copy it. Paste it in the app. The secret address is the one that works.

Apple Calendar (iCloud)

In the Calendar app, share the calendar and switch on Public Calendar. Copy the link it gives you and paste it in the app.

Outlook.com

Open Settings, then Calendar, then Shared calendars. Under Publish a calendar, choose the calendar and the permission, and copy the ICS link. Paste it in the app.

Quiet hours

Open a TV in the Family tab and set quiet hours: off at one time, on at another, every day. This works on a TV with an Amazon Signage Stick. The Stick switches the TV through the HDMI cable, which the TV has to allow: switch on Anynet+ (Samsung), SimpLink (LG), Bravia Sync (Sony), EasyLink (Philips) or HDMI-CEC in the TV’s own menu if the TV does not respond, and try once more. Some TVs only allow it on one HDMI port. For any other TV or player, use its own sleep timer, and turn off its screensaver so the photos keep playing.

When something is not right

What you see	What it usually is, and what to do
The TV shows a six-digit code	That TV is not connected to the family. Add it in the Family tab with Add a TV.
The TV goes dark or shows a screensaver after a while	The TV or player’s own sleep or screensaver setting. Turn it off in the device’s settings (Fire TV: Display and Sounds; Android TV: Device Preferences). A Signage Stick does not do this.
The TV shows old photos	Restart the TV or the player. On a Signage Stick, Cass can restart it from the app.
The TV does not turn off or on when told to	The HDMI setting above (HDMI-CEC) is off on the TV, or the Stick is in a port that does not allow it.
The calendar does not appear	The TV is a Samsung or a Roku, or it is offline, or the link is not the iCal link described above.
A clip does not play	The TV is a Samsung, which shows photos and documents only.
The app asks to start a plan although one was bought	Sign out and in again with the email the plan was bought with. If it still asks, email support@cast-hub.com.

Anything else: ask Cass in the app, or email support@cast-hub.com. Help is by chat and email; there is no phone line.

Frequently asked questions

How do I put the app on an iPhone?

Open family.cast-hub.com in Safari, tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen. The app then opens full screen from its own icon, like any other app. On Android, the browser offers to install it.

Where is the code the TV shows?

Open the CastHub app on the TV, or plug in an Amazon Signage Stick. A TV that is not yet part of the family shows a six-digit code on screen. Type it in the phone app under Family, Add a TV.

How do I get the Google Calendar link?

In Google Calendar on a computer: Settings, then the calendar’s own settings in the left column, then copy the “Secret address in iCal format”. Paste it in the app. The secret address is the one that works; the public URL does not.

How do I get the Apple (iCloud) calendar link?

In the Calendar app, share the calendar as a Public Calendar and copy the link it gives you, then paste it in the app.

How do I get the Outlook calendar link?

In Outlook.com: Settings, Calendar, Shared calendars, Publish a calendar, choose the calendar, and copy the ICS link. Paste it in the app.