After launching in October of final 12 months, Google TV is lastly getting certainly one of its most requested options: multi-user profile support.
Google TV is a revamp and rebranding of Google’s Android TV OS—it is Android, however tweaked for televisions with a big-screen UI. Presently, there are nonetheless some Android TV packing containers available on the market, however Google reportedly plans to part out the “Android TV” model by 2022, in favor of utilizing Google TV branding in all places. Google TV is the subsequent model of Android TV.
Google TV’s flagship characteristic is the brand new residence display screen, which is designed round a content-recommendation engine. As a substitute of the standard grid of streaming app icons, Google TV shows the reveals themselves on the house display screen, prioritizing what issues—the content material—and deprioritizing which service it comes from. The issue with Google TV’s suggestion strategy is that the system has gone a full 12 months with out profile help, so each consumer of the TV impacts the only checklist of really helpful content material.
With multi-user help, Google TV’s residence display screen will lastly make sense. A child’s streaming of Sesame Avenue will not battle with an grownup’s streaming of Squid Recreation. Customers will get their very own suggestions. Multi-user help additionally signifies that the Google TV watch checklist will now be tracked for particular person customers. As well as, profiles will get entry to their private Google account knowledge through the Google Assistant, so you possibly can ask issues like “present me my calendar” and get a related outcome.
With profile help, Google TV’s ambient mode, which reveals up whereas the TV is idle, can be being upgraded with extra personalised data. Google says, “From the newest recreation rating to the climate, information, and extra, your TV will maintain you updated with data based mostly in your profile. You may even scroll by means of the on-screen shortcuts to leap into your pictures or begin enjoying your music and podcasts with only a click on.”
The ambient mode is US-only for now, however Google says help for profiles will roll out globally to Google TV gadgets from Sony, TCL, and the brand new Google Chromecast quickly.
