Despite announcing in October of last year that individual profiles would be coming to Google TV by the end of 2021, the promised personalized profiles, watchlists, and Google Assistant help never materialized.
However, on Monday — with not nearly as much fanfare as the last time around — the platform finally began adding the functionality for users. What was announced last year is essentially what will be seen with the new update. Each individual user will be able to launch their own “personalized space” which will be paired with their individual Google account. These will allow each user’s preferences to guide the content recommendations for the profile. In the past, Google TV aggregated all of the content viewed on the service into the one profile’s recommendations no matter the age range of the users.
The new update will now give each individual user a more personalized experience; recommended shows and movies, watchlists, and Google Assistant will all be connected to each user’s profile rather than the primary account holder’s. Each Google TV profile will also be linked to Google Assistant, offering personalized recommendations to individual users.
With the update, users can create 12 profiles on a single connected TV device and children’s profiles can be monitored by parents and guardians on the same device. App downloads and credentials appear on all profiles, so users won’t need to log into every streaming service app on each Google TV profile.
While each individual Google TV profile won’t connect directly to the corresponding profiles across all streaming platforms, they will automatically link to the profiles of other Google-owned platforms including YouTube, making it that much easier to stream without interruption.
The updates are beginning to roll out on Monday with the changes anticipated to be in effect for all users within the next handful of weeks.