Terminate the connection to another device (change the output to local device) when the sleep timer has stopped the playback.
Problem solved:
Retaining the connection is no longer needed when the sleep timer has stopped the playback and may increase power consumption. It may also potentially confuse users that forgot that they were still casting.
Brought benefits:
Potentially reduced power consumption. No chance to forget that you were still casting when you open the app the next time.
On the other hand: often enough I am still awake at the end of the sleep timer, simply hit play and reactivate the timer. With the change requested above, I also have to enable casting again.
For me personally, the 2nd point is more important. The Raspberry Pi I cast to has a script running that turns on the amp (thanks to a smart plug) when music is played via the DAC. And when nothing is played for 5 minutes, it turns off the amp.
When I used the sleep timer before going to bed and then play something the next morning and it’s still connected to the Pi, the amp is turned on and starts playing, (which I usually don’t want). Hence my request. I don’t know how much battery life retaining the connection consumes.
Your use case is valid as well tho. Perhaps a second toggle below “Finish last track” called something like “Stop casting” would suit both use cases.
Edit:
After thinking a bit more about this, an alternative to a new toggle could be to delay the “stop casting” part by 5 minutes. That should give the user enough time to start the playback again after the sleep timer has stopped it and stop the casting if they do not resume it within these 5 minutes.