Just providing some helpful homebrew solutions.

Personally Recommended (due to no having zero issues using):

    https://github.com/muammar/mkchromecast

Others that i've used successfully with varying results (usually problems relate to finding the chromecast):

    https://github.com/xat/castnow
    https://github.com/Pat-Carter/stream2chromecast

I agree it would be nice to be able to cast without Chrome on a laptop (looks like VLC had experimental cast support but removed it), but it's literally in the name...

As for Android, I was fairly certain iOS at least can cast as my Apple fanboy roommate was having fun messing with the volume and pausing playback.

Use SodaPlayer.

I didn't know that app.

But it's a crutch AND doesn't allow the same stuff: If I watch a YT video, it's in my browser. No way to throw it at the TV. If I watch Twitch, it's in my browser. No way to throw it at the TV.

Maybe it can handle URLs. But if I have to copy the URL, paste it somewhere, fiddle to get to the same spot in the video ... then I can just launch Chrome and curse just as much.

(Highly ironic that the player offers the option to install a Chrome extension to open movies in SodaPlayer. For me the whole selling point of the thing would be to .. not need Chrome ofc)