Update: 18 months after this post, Netflix released profiles exactly as described below. Thanks Netflix!

I purchased Apple TV and Netflix over a year ago. Been very happy with both. So much so that I recently bought an Apple TV for my parents and included them on my Netflix account. From an subscription perspective, I see no problem with this as Netflix allows your account on up to 6 devices. But after about a week I noticed my Recommendations were skewed and some odd items in my Queue. And of course they were. My viewing habits are different than my parents. I though my Netflix account should have more than one Profile. To my knowledge, such a feature does not exist.

The following is a letter to Netflix requesting this feature. Although I have submitted this request to Netflix, I'm posting it here in hopes the feature might gain more traction.

Dear Netflix,

I have a feature request. As your streaming plans currently support up to 6 devices, it's common for a single account to be shared. Say for example, between family members. However, currently all aspects of the account are shared. Most notably Recommendations and Queues.

This really degrades the Netflix experience. So I'm recommending the concept of Profiles. Profiles would encapsulate Netflix features. A Netflix account can then have multiple Profiles. As such a user would toggle their Profile to receive their personalized Recommendations and Queues.

Incorporating this feature into the UI would be simple. For the web and mobile app UI, a user could toggle from a drop down menu in the upper right. For Apple TV, add another option button above Logout. As far as adoption, it is in the users best interest to toggle their Profile.

The application of Profiles extends beyond this use case. For example, Parental Controls could be built around Profiles. The concept of Profiles is widely used by Satellite TV. Netflix should incorporate its own version of Profiles.

Customer,

Jason McCreary

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