Google TV users are finally getting this important upgrade

Fed up waiting for personalised profiles? They're finally here

Chromecast with Google TV
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

We think the Chromecast with Google TV is the best Chromecast yet, but since it launched it's suffered from the same problem as other Google TV platforms. While Google did eventually add the ability to create children profiles so your horror movie recommendations aren't punctuated with episodes of Paw Patrol, it didn't support multiple user profiles.

That's not a big problem if you're a solo watcher. But if you share your Google TV with flatmates or family members it means your recommendations become pretty much useless – and if like me you often watch something other household members are watching but at different times, it's easy to end up without the faintest idea of which episodes you've watched and which ones they've watched and you haven't.

Good news. Personalised profiles are finally here.

How to get your Google TV upgrade

The upgrade has already happened on Google's servers, but if your Chromecast or Google TV app doesn't have it yet you might need to restart or even reinstall the app. You should then see an intro screen telling you that the profiles feature is there and asking if you want to add another Google account.

As you'd expect, it's all very straightforward after that: each account gets their own settings, watchlists and smart recommendations, so Google TV won't recommend programmes based on your flatmates' sports obsessions or your kids' descent into goth territory. 

Although the Chromecast is the most obvious beneficiary of the new upgrade, it'll benefit many other TV viewers: Google TV is used by some of the best TVs you can buy right now, such as models from Sony, so they'll be getting the new features too.

Carrie Marshall

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series. When she’s not scribbling, she’s the singer in Glaswegian rock band HAVR (havrmusic.com).