User Profiles / basic parental controls

Channels Apple TV Feature Requests
#1

I would love to see some very basic type of parental controls / restrictions.
One possibility would be user profiles which would have the option to be PIN protected.

So I would see it working like this:

In the settings you configure the profiles. They are very simple … you give a name, option to be PIN protected or not, then you just choose the channels permitted to be viewed in that profile (maybe you can hide channels from the all channels view and also be able to choose favorites for that profile)

This would be useful for kids. So your kids start the app and choose their profile. Most likely their profile would NOT be PIN protected. Then they only get to see only the channels their parents configured and deemed appropriate (for instance Nick, Disney, cartoon network or whatever).

If parents start the app, they pick their profile,and they would have to enter a PIN. Then they could see all channels and/or whatever favorites they choose (much of what they may not want children to see).

This type of feature should be very simple to implement and would have 2 functions: 1) very basic form of parental controls where parents could chose what channels children are allowed to watch 2) a way of having per-user favorites.

Another alternative would be to have the option to PIN protect selected channels. If you want to use this option you enable it in the settings then choose which channels are restricted/pin-protected. After its enabled, the PIN would be required both to enter/change settings, and then also if you choose to watch any channels which are configured as restricted / PIN protected … it will prompt for the PIN before allowing the channel to be viewed.

5 Likes
Multiple Profiles
#2

With an 8 year old in the house, would love to see this. Either a way for the app to use the existing V-chip rating information (for US), or a more generic channel-based lock as mentioned above. The Plex app is a great example of this, and would love to see something similar in Channels.

Another slightly related thing would be the ability to lock down/turn off the tuner’s firmware update option within Channels (added to possible future parental controls). I’ve had some issues with the newest HD Homerun firmware, so much that I ended up having to buy a new turner with older firmware to resolve it. Would not want our kid, or another house member, to accidentally update the firmware and go through that again!

3 Likes
#3

A more elegant approach would be, in my opinion, to integrate with the parental controls built into the ATV4. This would then give the user a single source of truth for all things related to parental control. It also provides the facility to override the control via a pin code.

1 Like
#4

With 4 different content viewers in the house, it makes sense to me that the experience be independent. since we often consume the same shows at different rates, tracking that independently on the DVR is important. I don’t want codes on my youth content so mom and I can see their view history, but i would like passwords on tv14 and above content, whether that content is live or DVR recorded.

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#5

I think user profiles can be very helpful especially with the DVR. In the past I would simply use multiple DVR’s. I don’t have young children in the house but when my grand kids come over I could see them having a profile similar to what I have setup in Netflix for them.

1 Like
#6

Completely agree. The Channels app should respect the parental control ratings set in tvOS. Any updates on this?

3 Likes