User Profiles for Google TV have been delayed, will release in the coming months instead

Not long ago, I was overjoyed to finally be writing the headline “Chromecast with Google TV will finally receive personalized user profiles”. The fact that this long-sought-after feature was inbound after Google’s streaming dongle failed to launch with it, and users have had to go without it all this time since had me ecstatic. To date, a family of several adult individuals must share a profile, which means that their content recommendations are mixed up pretty badly due to each person watching something quite different based on their taste.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but my excitement is now crushed, as Chromecast with Google TV personalized profiles are now being delayed, according to Google, who confirmed this depressing fact to 9to5Google earlier today. Originally, these great additions to the TV watching experience in the living room were supposed to launch in November, but here we are in December without them, and the worst part is that we don’t even know why.

Well, I suppose that’s the second worst thing aside from not currently having access to them, of course. Google omitted any information on the reason for the delay while announcing it, so we really just don’t know why the release is being pushed back. 9to5Google believes there’s still an opportunity for us to get ahold of profiles before Christmas, but it’s unlikely. Instead, Google states that they should arrive sometime in the coming months.

What’s waiting another month since we’ve waited this long though, right? I’ll admit, I’m a bit irked that this is something that even needs to be reported, but the logical and rational side of me speaks the truth – it’s better to have a well-polished feature release later than for it to release sooner and be riddled with bugs and oddities. That being said though, I’m stumped as to why profiles weren’t worked on for a year prior to the release of the new Chromecast so they could launch with it. They’re so essential to the experience that when we finally do get them, it may feel very strange to have gone without them up until that point.

“…new glanceable cards will populate your TV when it’s idle, giving you information and recommendations. Things like the latest game score, the weather, news, music, podcasts, and more will be accessible to you while the full ambient mode where your photos and curated artwork take over the screen will kick in a few minutes later.”

Our Original Personalized User Profiles article

I’ll leave you with a bit of good news though. We do have confirmation that Google TV’s Ambient Mode cards are right on schedule, and will begin rolling out now for a small percentage of users in the U.S, so that that as you will. I’m interested in finally having such a feature, but I was truly looking forward to the profiles more than anything else.