YouTube is rolling out a new privacy feature for smart TVs that should prevent everyone in your household from messing with your algorithm and recommendations.
As announced via a YouTube Help post, the new ‘Account Lock’ feature lets users protect individual YouTube profiles on a television with a four-digit code. Once enabled, other people using the TV can’t access that account without entering the code. That keeps personal recommendations, subscriptions and search history separated from everyone else sharing the television.
It’s a simple addition, but one that makes plenty of sense as YouTube increasingly treats televisions as an important part of its platform. Last year, the company announced several improvements specifically for watching YouTube on TVs, including improved search and higher-resolution thumbnails.
Setting up Account Lock is fairly straightforward. Open the YouTube app on your TV, select your account from the left-side navigation menu and choose ‘Settings’ directly underneath it. Then follow the prompts to enable Account Lock and create your four-digit code.
You don’t necessarily have to reach for the remote every time you want back in, either. After selecting a locked account on your TV, opening YouTube on your phone will show a prompt that lets you unlock it. Users with notifications enabled can also receive a push notification to speed up the process.
The feature complements YouTube’s existing family and safety controls. Earlier this year, YouTube expanded its parental controls in Canada, including easier switching between family profiles. Users can also review televisions and other hardware currently signed into their Google Account through Google’s device management page and remotely sign out of anything they no longer recognize or use.
For anyone whose YouTube algorithm has been messed up after letting someone else use the TV, a four-digit PIN feels overdue.
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