Netflix to Allow up to Five Different User Profiles on One Account

One feature Netflix users have been requesting for years is the ability to create multiple profiles for a single account, so that one household doesn’t need to have its preferences mingled.

This problem has meant that any Netflix account used by two or more people is plagued by a virtually useless recommendation engine because the personalization doesn’t recognize the different individuals engaging with different types of content. Netflix says it will soon address this issue by adding multiple profiles.

“[The recommendation engine] suffers from a challenge, which is most Netflix members have several members of their household that use Netflix independently and so your personal view of Netflix might be cluttered by Shaun the Sheep and other similar titles that maybe your kids have been watching in the last few days,” Netflix’s chief product officer Neil Hunt told the Canadian Press.

According to Netflix, accounts will be allowed up to five profiles.

“The problem we’ve sought to solve here is: my home screen is cluttered up with stuff I’m not interested in and enough with the kids stuff already,” continued Hunt. “And I think we’ve done a decent job of making it one click to be able to segment that into a different space.”

Netflix is also planning to add another feature in Canada called My List, which is based on an existing feature—Queue—in the US. Queue allows members to save titles to watch later, although Netflix admitted that the feature has been unpopular in the US market. The rebranded feature is a “variation” of Queue that promises superior engagement, according to the company.