tvOS 26.2: Easier management of profiles for children and guests
The multimedia box will soon be easier to adapt to other viewers. Apple is overhauling profile management and no longer requires Apple accounts.
tvOS 26: New account management coming soon.
(Image: Apple)
The television in the living room is usually used by several people. To customize a connected Apple TV device, there have been different user profiles since tvOS 12, but their setup was not perfect. With tvOS 26.2, which is currently in a beta phase, a lot is changing here: As testers report, Apple is enabling profiles to be created without an Apple account being present for the first time. This allows settings to be quickly made for guests – as well as for children who may not yet have an Apple account at all.
Profile without annoying account entry
The new profiles are created via Settings in the "Profiles" section. When creating a new profile, you are no longer prompted for an Apple account by default. Instead, you can now create profiles with just a name, an icon image, and by answering the question of whether the user is a child or not. If the latter is the case, an age range can be set. How this is presented in the EU is still unclear; in the USA, the usual rating levels from TV-Y to TV-MA plus "allow all TV content" are offered.
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In iOS 26.1, Apple still required logging in with an Apple account for new profiles. However, there is already a new children's view that allows you to set restrictions, among other things. The aim is to make the multimedia box a child-friendly device at all times. The idea of developing a "child mode" for Apple TV has been around at Apple for several tvOS versions, but implementation is only happening now.
Transfer also to smart TVs from other manufacturers
Interesting: The profiles created with tvOS 26.2 also apply to the Apple TV app if it is integrated into a smart TV from another manufacturer, for example. Due to the fact that the new profiles can be created without an Apple account, they are always linked to a "real" account.
This "Managing Profile" also has access to searches, may share existing subscriptions with the other person, and can also delete the profile. Useful: It is possible to "upgrade" a profile without an Apple account deposit, so that it then becomes a fully-fledged profile. tvOS 26.2 is likely to be released later this year, with December currently considered a possible date.
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