As first noted by MacRumors, Apple TV customers will be pleased to know that the $99 “hockey puck” will soon fully support Netflix’s newly announced user profiles. While Netflix says that a complete rollout to all supported devices will be complete by the end of August, it appears that the feature is partially available today for certain Apple TV and Netflix users.
Netflix’s user profiles allow subscribers to create personal viewing accounts that track individual ratings, recently viewed movies/showes, and recommendations. Each account can also set different parental controls to differentiate viewing capabilities between parent and child accounts.
The introduction of individual user profiles is smart play by Netflix as it allows the company to better associate viewing data between family members and friends who may share the same account. When each user begins to use their individual profile to browse and watch content, Netflix will be able to better focus and cater its recommendations so that each user is better targeted than they are today. Individual user accounts also allow Netflix to make better use of the service’s recently integrated social features, which in turn will help increase curation and pull in new subscribers.
The option appears when users first launch the Netflix section on their Apple TV, but profiles cannot be edited or added. Selecting one will exit the profiles interface. Netflix says subscribers will soon have the ability to personalize profiles on the web for access on Apple TV and other devices.
Earlier today, Apple seeded a new Apple TV OS with a new NFC-like bluetooth iOS Device remote activation feature.
