We had a great response to our survey and have gone through the data received over the past few days. It has given us some clarity on how best to move forward at this point in time.
Key findings
15.1% are currently using Apple profiles
28.2% would start using Apple profiles if Infuse supported them
50.1% do not have a need for multi-user support
6.6% other (not enough apps support them, too complicated to set up, etc…)
As of right now, we’re planning to integrate Apple profiles into Infuse. This is a moderate task and is something we are planning to include in the upcoming 8.2 version which we are working hard to release in mid-July.
Benefits of Apple profiles
Allows a fully unique Infuse installation for each user (IE profiles do not share Infuse data and can be customized as needed)
Syncing with individual iCloud accounts on other devices (this also helps avoid confusion that often comes up around Infuse only syncing with the ‘Default’ Apple TV user)
Ability to log in to a unique Trakt account (watched history from family members does not need to sync to your personal Trakt account)
Different users can have different Parental Controls enabled
Using profiles is entirely optional and nothing would change for those who want to continue using a single profile
Known Limitations
A unique Apple ID would be required for each profile (keep in mind Apple IDs are free and can be created rather easily)
Family Purchase Sharingmay need to be enabled for sharing a Pro subscription (still some testing to do here to confirm this). Using Trakt purchase sharing would still be an option of course.
Disk space usage could be increased for larger (non-Direct Mode) libraries (there are settings in Infuse which can be adjusted to avoid this and we may look at adjusting the default settings after 8.2 is released if a need arises)
Overall, I believe Apple profiles will be a great addition to Infuse that will help many families better manage their setups and watching habits. However, I can appreciate there may be some use cases that would not be covered here, and we will work to evaluate what gaps remain after the release of 8.2. Building out a separate custom profile option, while not impossible, would likely require an order of magnitude (or two) more work compared to using Apple’s built-in profile features and we would want to be certain this would provide substantial value before moving forward.
I’m happy to continue the conversation so please feel free to share any thoughts you may have. Thanks again!
Hey, while I hate the current way Apple handles Purchase Sharing, I am super happy that we are getting multi user support! Thank you so much!
While I dislike depending on Trakt, Trakt purchase sharing will likely be the way forward for me personally.
I plan to make a Guest Apple ID as well for when we have guests over. My household is quite small so this works for me, but I can see why it wouldn’t work for others.
How will this work for Plex (or any of the other ones)? Do I have to set up each family members Apple ID and then let them login with their own Plex accounts? That sounds like a lot of work setup work.
How would that work for something like Netflix (if they would support this feature)? Do users have to login with their own Netflix account for each Apple ID? Or do we share a Netflix account and then select a profile?
I am just going through the motions in my head of setting this up for a household of 4 + 1 guest account on 3 different Apple TVs. It feels like a lot of work.
Once you have a separate profile added to the Apple TV opening Infuse would appear as if it was a fresh installation with no shares added. You can then move forward with connecting to a Plex server and customizing which lists and favorites appear on the Home Screen.
Plex is a little unique as these shares do not sync between devices, but for all other shares (including Emby and Jellyfin) setting up a share under one profile on one device would sync over to that profile on other devices.
I can’t really speak for other apps as they may manage profiles differently.
Multi-users in 8.2 will require an Apple profile, which currently requires an Apple ID. I could see Apple perhaps adding a guest profile option in the future, which in theory wouldn’t require a new Apple ID, but I haven’t seen any plans for this just yet.
I know some email providers allow for email aliases (EG user+apple@gmail.com) which would potentially allow for multiple Apple IDs to be created without having to manage multiple email addresses.
I realize Apple profiles may not cover everyone but it’s a big step in the right direction that we can implement rather quickly.
I’m very happy with this approach. Some people were having the argument other apps were not using Apple profiles and therefore it didn’t make sense for Infuse to use them. I disagree! If others are doing something wrong, it doesn’t mean Infuse has to follow the same example and do it wrong.
With this approach of using Apple Profiles, Infuse is setting themselves apart from other streaming apps who simply choose not to cooperate with Apple and implement their features.
Were you referring to Plex in Infuse, or Plex itself? I’m a bit confused here so I may not have expressed myself clearly/correctly. We use Plex across multiple devices and our profiles sync correctly. I assume you’re referring to setting up Plex in Infuse.
Correct, this would apply to connecting to Plex from within Infuse.
If another app has not opted in to using Apple profiles there would be no difference in how that app appears/behaves when switching between profiles. This is how the current version of Infuse works.
A pure Infuse profile management system built on Apple Profiles that uses iCloud for synchronization is a terrific solution for customers without a backend Plex server.
This is absolutely the wrong way to handle Plex profiles.
For Plex, there only needs to be a single Apple profiile. When acting as a Plex client, Infuse should connect to the Plex server and display the Plex user selection screen. Plex will then handle all of the profile management. Synchronization betweeen devices is irrelevant, because the Plex server is the single source of truth for the profile data.
I can see your point, but Infuse is also much more than just a client for Plex. There are certainly cases where someone may have Infuse connected to a single Plex server, but there are also users who have 1 Plex server, 3 Emby servers and 2 SMB servers. The Apple profile option provides more versatility to cover these kinds of cases.
Thanks for responding. I understand that you have to do what works for the greatest number of users.
Utilizing Infuse-managed profiles isn’t an option for those of us who have a mix of Infuse and Plex clients. For example, I have friends who run Plex client on Windows and connect to my server.
There has to be a single source of truth for the profile data, and non-Influse clients would have no access to an Infuse-based profile database.
I’m personally curious how this would work connecting to a Plex user who is part of Plex Home? (ie: no separate login credentials for Plex). It sounds like it wouldn’t? But I could be wrong.
I think in this sense you are simply linking a Plex login to an Apple ID. The user(s) on the Plex server would not need to be changed and could still be used for playback/syncing on other devices.
The changes here would likely require them to have a unique Plex login to take advantage of separate profiles in Infuse.
Support for Plex Home users could be addressed independently of the multi-profile features being discussed here.
If you can have Infuse select a Plex user based on the “current” Apple user ID, that could work. The profile data would still have to be on the Plex server, otherwise if that same Plex user later connects from a Windows machiine, that profile data woud be wrong.
Mary’s Apple profile would be linked to Mary’s Plex account.
Joe’s Apple profile would be linked to Joe’s Plex account.
Opening Infuse under each profile would have separate libraries, lists, watched history, and ratings as these are synced from Plex.
Watching something while using Mary’s Apple profile would sync that history back to her Plex account. Joe’s Plex account would not have any history synced unless he switches to his Apple profile.
I’m assuming we’re not referring to Plex Managed Accounts here? We’ve always had only Managed Accounts for our single Plex server at home, not separate Plex Accounts.
