There aren’t too many differences between Fire OS v5.2.2.0, which is the software version that the new Fire TV Stick 2 ships with, and Fire OS 5.2.1.0, which is the latest software version available on all other Fire TV models. However, while digging around the directory structure of the new device, I discovered a new system app that is not included with any prior software version. This new system app seems to handle account switching, which implies the Fire TV may gain user profiles in the near future.
The Amazon Fire TV has always supported just one Amazon account at a time. That has been mostly fine up until now, because one person’s Fire TV experience is pretty much the same as another’s, but with more customization options expected in the upcoming interface refresh, having a separate profile for each member of a household will be useful in the future. Other Amazon devices, like Fire tablets and the Amazon Echo, already support multiple profiles, so it makes sense the Fire TV would eventually adopt this feature as well.
The images you see above are included in the new system app as placeholder images for user profiles. These are the same exact placeholder images found on Fire tablets. Just like profiles on Fire Tablets, the Fire TV’s potential profile feature appears to be linked with Amazon’s Household concept.
It appears different profiles can be given different roles, like Adult or Child. I assume each type of roll will come with unique abilities and limitations. The new system app doesn’t really reveal much about this new feature, since its purpose seems to handle more of the backend tasks of account management, as opposed to front end tasks like assigning profile privileges.
I suspect user profiles will be introduced with the upcoming new Fire TV interface, since it doesn’t seem like this new system app can do much on its own. It was likely just unintentionally left in the 5.2.2.0 software update, which is something that has happened in the past when parts of upcoming features appear ahead of their release.
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Hopefully it’ll provide profiles within the same Amazon account rather than support multiple Amazon accounts. Then it will function the way Netflix does, where one household, one subscription fee, multiple customized experiences for family members.
It should function in similar manner to Fire tablets. Each family user will have a different watch list and recent items. The same with app access and viewing ratings with pin access.
Hoping it’s one account with multiple “Watch Lists” so I can put one of my older Fire TV Sticks into my sons room.
“soon” lol