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Apple TV is not family friendly...
- Thread starter Wildkraut
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Apple TV, in general, gives me a slightly disappointed feeling when I try to use it more than "every once and a while".
the "one device" for our TV currently is the Fire TV stick...
the "one device" for our TV currently is the Fire TV stick...
Thanks for reminding. 2 years old and still no progress as a family friendly living room device. Thats why i still don’t have an Apple TV, my PS4 does it all. What a shame!
I would have expected such a thing to be addressed by the 2nd or 3rd generation of the product, not the 6th generation (or likely later). Apple TV has been out for ten years, it's ridiculous that fast account switching is not implemented. Fortunately some services like Netflix and Playstation Vue have their own internal accounts you can switch, but this doesn't solve the problem for everything. Similar problem with iPads (also very often shared by family members).
Why does that matter, it is still a relevant issue.
Two years later, and the issue is now worse with the TV app.
Example, if I am using the TV app to watch something in Hulu, but the Hulu app was last used my my daughter, then most of the time it will start playing from her Hulu profile. Sometimes it will ask what profile to use, but not consistently.
The gaming issue is pretty bad too, it basically makes gaming on the ATV, even casual gaming, pointless for families.
Pretty sad.
Heya, yes 4 years old and same same.
We don’t own an AppleTV anymore, and don’t plan to buy one as long they don’t fix this. AppleTV continues to be *not* family friendly at all. Our PS4Pro took over the role, we are using it to play games and watch streams and rent movies on amazon.
We don’t own an AppleTV anymore, and don’t plan to buy one as long they don’t fix this. AppleTV continues to be *not* family friendly at all. Our PS4Pro took over the role, we are using it to play games and watch streams and rent movies on amazon.
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Renting movies on Amazon on a PS4Pro - doesn't that mean that you'll miss out on 4K Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos and automatic frame rate optimisation?
Seems crazy to use a far inferior product just because another product doesn't do everything that you demand from it.
Our couch is around 7m away from our 75” Sony TV, at this distance you don’t see so much difference.
We rarely watch 4k movies, HD does the job fine enough for movies and series.
Im fine that way, and also downgraded back to Netflix HD. 4k movies and series are overrated in my opinion.
They still have sharper picture, than lesser formats.
For your screen size, you should sit not farther than 3m from it, to see 4K resolution.
According to RTINGS, optimal viewing distance is 1.35m!
At double that distance you can only see 720p resolution.
To discern 4K resolution from 7m distance, you will need at least 185" screen.
I haven't installed the beta of TVOS 13, but my understanding is that the user profiles it introduces are very limited.
What is probably is:
Anyone can switch to anyone else's profile
Individual TV app
Individual Apple Music
Individual Apple Podcasts
What it should be:
Authentication when switching profiles
Individual App launcher (only see your apps)
Your individual everything Apple (TV app, Music, Podcasts, Photos, etc)
3rd party app profile access (child one Apple TV profile active? child one's YouTube profile also active)
Systemwide parental controls (develop a standard apps have support for TV/movie/music ratings. Set it at the system level per user profile. It's a nightmare setting parental controls in every.single.app)
I don't want my kid browsing my iCloud photo library or knowing that I like to listen to gangster rap every now and then in Apple Music. I'd also like to keep my YouTube watch history private.
At a minimum I would expect a 5 digit PIN when switching profiles. Given that, It would be poor execution to allow profile switching w/o proper authentication to the apps. ScreenTime controls could be easily used in a Family Sharing configuration.
Or a personal drawing/gesture on the remote control touch surface as alternative.
I've been using the 4k ATV for over 2 years and love it. Other people in my family use the 3rd and 4th Gen too. Sharing my iTunes music and movie library is a breeze.
That means that it’s finally possible to:
Quick switch profiles without typing my “long and secure” AppleID password, while at the same time being able to lock my Profile, so that just I can access it? How to achieve this? By securing the profile by a pin or finger gesture?
Does the AppleTV finally have a profile selection screen when turned on, instead of auto login?
Does the profile switch affects the AppleTV in a way that every family member has a individual active iCloud, Photos, iCloud Music, Savegames, etc.
Does AppleTV limit the accessible Apps(e.g. 17+ age stuff) depending of the active profile?
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I have three Apple IDs (UK, USA< Canada) logged into my Apple TV 4K so I can switch easily.
For sharing my libraries, I use Apple's Family Sharing. Each family member is physically located elsewhere with their own iCloud accounts; therefore, what the member does will not affect my profile or account.
I believe there is a kids' profile but I've never had to use it since each iCloud account is controlled by a parent and the parent decides what is accessible.
I don't believe there is a profile selection menu when it wakes from sleep or is powered up after a cold boot. My ATV is connected to a power bar which I switch off when not in use.
All of the questions you asked are relevant and reasonable. In my particular situation, auto log on, lack of parental controls, and quick switching of iCloud IDs with the "remember my password" option works well.
Once logged on, I don't recall a method to lock the profile but you can require the password each time a purchase is made.
I hope my post has been helpful, even if the help is of a minor nature.
Thanks! Well, sounds like they added few missing features, but it’s not ready for my/our usage yet. :/
You are welcome.
Yes, they added some features but it's still not fully "kid friendly". In my case, no one under the age of 17 has access to my libraries which, I suppose, is a good thing
AppleTV is still not really family friendly. The current implementation is modest.
- You can restrict tvOS - for all users. This means that parents also have all the restrictions and have to enter PINs all the time. That's annoying.
In addition, the ATV app does not work with activated restrictions, or only to a very limited extent.
=> Solution:
True multi-user capability, i.e. the restrictions should be able to be assigned per account. Then you could assign a KIDS account with restrictions. In the parent account (or personal account) you would log in once with PIN and have no more restrictions.
- PIN entry: To prevent children from seeing the PIN, a keyboard for PIN entry should automatically appear in the iOS Remote app. This does not happen. In the past, however, this only worked unreliably.
- You can restrict tvOS - for all users. This means that parents also have all the restrictions and have to enter PINs all the time. That's annoying.
In addition, the ATV app does not work with activated restrictions, or only to a very limited extent.
=> Solution:
True multi-user capability, i.e. the restrictions should be able to be assigned per account. Then you could assign a KIDS account with restrictions. In the parent account (or personal account) you would log in once with PIN and have no more restrictions.
- PIN entry: To prevent children from seeing the PIN, a keyboard for PIN entry should automatically appear in the iOS Remote app. This does not happen. In the past, however, this only worked unreliably.