Although the space for media streaming hardware is crowded at the moment, the Chromecast with Google TV turned out to be one of the best in the business even though it was very late for the party. However, it has missed one crucial feature since its inception.
This feature is a separate Google TV profile. If you want to link two completely independent Google accounts to your Chromecast – for example you and your partner’s – this is currently not possible. This limits what Google TV can do best, which is personalized recommendations. You will see your recommendations, but so will your partner, and he wouldn’t see any of his own.
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However, this could finally change soon. According to an APK teardown from 9to5Google, there is evidence of such a feature in the latest update to the Google TV Home app, which is version 1.0.370. In particular, the reference shows a warning that says “Add another account to this device for your own personalized Google TV experience”. That makes pretty clear what Google has in mind.
That doesn’t mean full support for Google TV Profiles is imminent or available anytime soon. However, references to unannounced functions in a live version of the app usually indicate a later rollout shortly thereafter.
Honestly, this should have been there since day one as we mentioned earlier. However, once the Chromecast with Google TV gets that option, it will likely be the best media streamer you can get in its price range.
