Netflix Individual Profiles Begin Rollout Today
After years of speculation, months of testing, and some public demonstrations, Netflix has finally rolled out individual profiles for shared family accounts, one of the service’s most requested features.
The new feature gives users the ability to create unique profiles for each member of the household, complete with separate settings, viewing histories, and instant queues. When using supported devices, a Netflix Instant Streaming user simply chooses the corresponding profile and then is able to enjoy customized content without contaminating (or being contaminated by) the content preferences of others sharing the account. That’s right, folks. No longer will one member’s finely-tuned Netflix recommendation list of 80s action films and science fiction be destroyed when a certain spouse goes on a weekend-long Gossip Girl binge.
Netflix individual profiles are rolling out starting today in all of the service’s regions, but may take some time to reach everyone’s account (our own TekRevue account hasn’t yet been updated, for example). Once enabled, users can easily create profiles from the master account’s settings, and can even link newly-created profiles to the user’s corresponding Facebook account.
To keep the experience as user-friendly as possible, the team decided to eschew individual passwords for each account, so you’ll have to trust that the other users in your house won’t, intentionally or otherwise, mess with your own profile. Assuming all goes well, each user can choose their own language, bandwidth, and caption settings to provide a truly unique experience between profiles.
The individual profile feature will be fully compatible with Netflix-supported Web browsers, devices, and game consoles, although certain devices, such as Android platforms and the Nintendo Wii, won’t have the feature until later in the fall.
