Fire TV User Profiles can now be linked to profiles within apps

Along with the new Fire TV Interface’s arrival last year came the arrival of user profiles on Fire TV devices. Those user profiles are becoming more useful as they can now be linked to the profiles within streaming service apps. As Reddit user occasio has pointed out, user profiles in the Discovery+ app can now be linked to the Fire TV user profile to eliminate the need to select a profile twice.

When selecting a user profile in the Discovery+ app, the Fire TV now displays a prompt asking if you’d like to link your Fire TV user profile to the Discovery+ user profile. The message on the screen states that “once linked, you’ll no longer need to select your profile each time you open the app.” I’m not a Discovery+ subscriber to test the feature first hand, but I presume it means that, once the profiles are linked, you shouldn’t see the profile selection screen again within the Discovery+ app and it will automatically know which Discovery+ profile to use based on which Fire TV profile is currently selected.

The profile linking prompt states that you’ll be able to manage your linked profiles under the Fire TV’s profile settings. I’m not seeing those features yet on my devices, so this change seems to still be rolling out to devices. I presume that all devices that have received the new interface will eventually gain this new profile lining capability, but I can’t be certain.

The Discovery+ app is the only 3rd-party app that I’m aware of with this new profile linking capability. The Prime Video app also knows which Fire TV profile is being used and displays the appropriate profile automatically, but that has always been the case and doesn’t display a prompt asking if you’d like to link your profiles. If you know of any other apps that can link their profile with the Fire TV profile, let everyone know in the comments below.

5 comments
  1. David S. says:

    Ooh! I will certainly appreciate this feature. Plex has long had an option to remember which profile to use, but I have had more than enough of being asked which profile to use when I launch Netflix (although Netflix will still be asking on other platforms).

  2. Russ says:

    I wish you could set a default profile, the FS’s on the TV’s in the kitchen and bathroom are only used for a couple of youtube tv channels, I hate going thru the profile selection screen just to get to a channel.

  3. Adam says:

    Wish you could just turn them off.

    • If you have only one profile, it essentially acts the same way it did before the profile feature was added. The only difference is the useless icon on the home screen.

      • Adam says:

        Yeah, problem is somehow profiles for my kids showed up but there’s nothing they want under them so they start down the rabbit hole and then complain. Not a huge deal; just annoying. :)

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