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Google TV is perfect for one, but terrible for multiple users
One user gets all the benefits and all the disadvantages
When it announced the new Chromecast, Google heralded its new Google TV interface layer as an excellent content discovery experience aimed at helping you find what to watch without worrying about the logistics of the 'where' and 'how.' In many ways, the promise is fulfilled and we think you won't be disappointed at all by your $50 purchase. But if you don't live alone and have kids, a roommate, or a partner with a different taste, the experience is far from ideal. Google TV is clearly built for a single user, from the homescreen to Assistant and various other apps. You might think you can add multiple accounts, but those only work for some limited services and don't affect the overall interface. This restriction isn't new: it has existed since Android TV's inception and has yet to be removed, unfortunately.
6 years after launch, Android TV still lacks multiple user profiles
It remains inadequate for many households
A basic requirement of the living room TV experience is making sure the interface and content are tailored for multiple users and people of all ages and tastes. Nearly six years after its launch, Android TV is still trudging along and lacking that essential feature even though a few of its competitors, like Apple TV, have already implemented it. Without it, the platform remains ill-suited for families and multi-user households.
Google started rolling out multi-user support for the Google Home back in April. It allowed Home owners to train the smart speaker to recognize different people, and keep everyone's data separate. But until now, it was only available in the US and UK.
Android has offered up the option for multiple users to share one device since the days of Jelly Bean (no, not that version, this one), but if you wanted a couple of people to use a phone, you were out of luck. For several releases now, the feature has been tablet-only. With Lollipop, multi-user support is coming to phones.
Ever since its inception in Android 4.2, end-users have wondered why the multi-user function has been restricted to tablets. While switching between profiles desktop-style certainly makes the most sense on tablets, there's no technical reason why it couldn't be enabled for phones as well. Yesterday an official Android engineer took to Reddit to explain the reasoning behind the limitation.
Android 4.2 introduced a major change for tablets: multi-user profiles. This allows each member of the family (or organization), to have their own profile, complete with app, homescreen, and setting independence. Today, with Android 4.3, Google has taken multi-user accounts to the next level with restricted profiles. Essentially, this allows the tablet owner to have granular control over the other user accounts on the device.
Modaco Toolkit Enables Easy Multi-User Support For Rooted Phones Running Android 4.2
Multi-user support is one of the most interesting additions in Jelly Bean 4.2, but you can only get it if you're using a tablet. It makes sense - phones
Multi-user support is one of the most interesting additions in Jelly Bean 4.2, but you can only get it if you're using a tablet. It makes sense - phones are rarely shared between more than one person, while tablets are naturally shareable. Even so, it would be nice if Google gave users the option. But thanks to modder extraordinaire Paul "Modaco" O'Brien, there's a relatively easy way to enable multi-user mode on smartphones. It's detailed on the Modaco blog, but all you need to get started is a phone running Android 4.2 and root permissions.
In an almost superhero-like act, Koushik Dutta (a.k.a. Koush of ROM Manager fame) has pushed his completely rewritten Superuser app to the Play Store just 15 days after first announcing it on Google+. This version introduces several improvements upon the original Superuser. In the last two weeks, the feature list has grown to include fully functioning multi-user support, secure PIN protection, and support for the x86 and ARM architectures. Additionally, the interface has been revitalized with a clean looking Holo theme and a tablet UI.
It's been over four months since Google officially announced Android 4.2 and slightly less time since the initial round of new Nexus devices running it went up for order. Much like the gunshot that kicks off the 100-meter tortoise race, that launch signaled the silent contest to see which manufacturer could get out a non-Nexus update first. Today, we have our winner: ASUS, with a shiny new version of Jelly Bean for the Transformer Pad (TF300T).
We're back with yet another edition of our Android 4.2 teardown! We previously showed you the new Gmail, the Quick Settings prototype, and all sorts of security features. Today we're looking at some seriously fun stuff, including a sneak peek at the new Gallery design.
Multiple User Accounts Are Coming To Android: Miles Of Code Is Already In AOSP, And Some Of It Is Quietly Working On Devices Right Now
Multi-user support is one of the few remaining things a desktop OS can do that Android can't. The "coffee table tablet" use case would greatly benefit
Multi-user support is one of the few remaining things a desktop OS can do that Android can't. The "coffee table tablet" use case would greatly benefit from a multi-user setup, as would an enterprise user who wants to keep work and home separate. It's been a top 20 item on the Android bug tracker since the debut of Honeycomb, so there is certainly demand for it.