I turned my dusty Chromecast into a $250 smart home hub replacement

An old 1080p Chromecast dongle can be repurposed as a permanent smart home dashboard display using an app called DashCast. By pointing DashCast at a Home Assistant kiosk-mode URL and enabling force display, the Chromecast stays locked to the dashboard without timing out. Key caveats: power it from a wall plug (not the TV's USB port) to keep it always on, and note it's view-only since the Chromecast has no touch or mouse input.