Google TV gets multi-user profile support after long wait: Everything to know

Google TV has also decided to make the ambient mode a little more useful by adding personalised information and recommendations at a glance in the mode.

Google TV: A slew of new features are being introduced to Google TV – the new software experience that Google is bringing to Android TVs. Among the latest features to be added are multi-user profile support as well glanceable cards in ambient mode. The Google TV software experience was debuted by Google on Chromecast with Google TV last year, and it provided users with a better, more polished user interface. However, users did miss an essential feature that has now actively become a part of the user experience on even OTT apps like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix – the multi-user profiles.

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Things seemed like they would change when in March, Google brought the Kids profile to provide parents with more control over the content their children viewed.

Now, though, Google has finally brought in a multi-user profile support, addressing the problems of the users. With this, users would be able to create a separate profile for themselves and customise their own space with their own Google account even if they share the same Google TV. This means that people would have their own spaces where they would get recommendations as per their tastes, have easy access to their own watchlist, and would also get tailored responses from the Google Assistant even on the same Google TV. Google has said that with this, the downloaded apps and app login credentials would sync across profiles and therefore, users would not have to begin from scratch while making a new profile.

Apart from this, Google TV has also decided to make the ambient mode a little more useful by adding personalised information and recommendations at a glance in the mode. They would also be able to see their favourite memories from Google Photos. These glanceable cards would appear when the TV is idle, and they would also show information like the latest game scores, news, weather forecast, etc. These cards would also allow users to scroll through on-screen shortcuts so that they could play their favourite music or begin a slideshow of their photos easily. The cards would disappear when a TV is left idle for a long time, and would automatically switch to the ambient mode photos or curated artwork.

The new features are set to begin rolling out to Chromecast with Google TV, as well as Google TVs from TCL and Sony soon. It is important to note that while the glanceable cards feature would be limited to the US, the multi-user profile support would be released worldwide.