Out of all of the various gadgets Google has launched over the last year, none won my heart over quite like my Chromecast Audio. Paired with a set of cheap bookshelf speakers I picked up in college and placed right alongside a turntable, it was a super affordable way to stream any music directly from my phone without lifting much more than a finger. Unlike the video-based Chromecast series, Google discontinued the gadget after just one outing, but it looks like this is one product that might be rising from the graveyard.

The folks at 9to5Google discovered some evidence of a potential successor to the Chromecast Audio while digging through a recent update to the Google Home app. This device, labeled YND, is grouped with the original Chromecast Audio, with strings of code referring to both products as, simply, "Chromecast Audio." That separates both gadgets from the Chromecast with Google TV and its unannounced 1080p model, which are paired together as "Chromecast Video" instead. Those labels — and specifically how it's paired with the original model from 2015 — make the possibility of a new audio dongle pretty likely.

Of course, anything found in lines of code has to be taken with a grain of salt, and this gadget is no different. 9to5Google floats another theory, this time matching up with their earlier reports about a potential hybrid tablet and smart display from Google. Hypothetically, this specified device could be the speaker base disconnected from the tablet, something able to continue working even while the main display is undocked. However, it's unclear why Google would pair it with the original Chromecast Audio, especially considering that dongle wasn't a standalone speaker. Since the base would function more like a Nest Home Mini, it seems odd not to align the two in the app.

The original Chromecast Audio likely didn't sell enough to warrant a successor, but it was a fascinating gadget back when Google was more likely to try out new things. Although the company would no doubt love for all of its users to pick up a Nest Audio or two, selling a revamped Chromecast Audio as a way to add some functionality to any speaker around your house makes sense.

Who knows — maybe this particular gadget is Google's way of competing with the likes of Sonos. After all, the biggest issue with the original model was needing separate dongles for each speaker in your home. Years down the road, perhaps the company has found a way to make one dongle work for all of your household's audio gear. We'll have to wait to find out.