YouTube TV getting family sharing account switcher UI on televisions

Abner Li | Apr 27 2022 - 11:36 am PT

Following iOS picture-in-picture support and an update on surround sound availability last month, YouTube TV is working on a better family sharing experience for televisions that adds a built-in account switcher.

YouTube TV today showed off a “Who’s watching?” screen with a straightforward switcher UI that’s meant to let family users “have [their] own account on the same TV.”

There’s a row of avatars with “Add account” at the right, and “Settings” below it. This announcement tweet uses “SpongeBob” characters, but it’s not clear whether the cord-cutting service will let users select avatars from popular TV shows or whether that’s just an example for this GIF. The accounts not currently in use are labeled “Signed out” under the name.

This screen should be especially useful for the YouTube TV application on non-Android/Google TV devices as the first-party OS already offers a standard Google Account switcher. It should mean that your watch history and resulting recommendations are better walled-off and remain personalized to you. Hopefully, YouTube TV is smart about when to prompt users with this screen. It’s not clear whether it will automatically appear on app launch or has to be manually accessed.

Home is where you're surrounded by other critters that care about you and where you can all have your own account on the same TV. pic.twitter.com/Cv8xtNjVyI
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) April 27, 2022

The only other detail provided today about YouTube TV’s new switcher interface is that this “feature will be hitting your accounts gradually and we hope it makes family sharing that much easier.”

YouTube TV’s $64.99 per month subscription lets you share with up to 5 other members that are meant to be in your family/household.