Google TV and Chromecast users are running into a frustrating problem with YouTube that’s making their multi-profile setups a whole lot more annoying to deal with. The app has stopped honoring Google TV profile selections, which means every time someone opens YouTube, they’re getting hit with an account picker screen instead of automatically loading the right profile.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. For over a year, families with shared devices could switch between Google TV profiles and YouTube would follow along without any extra steps. You’d select your profile from the home screen, open YouTube, and your personalized feed would be waiting. That smooth handoff is now broken, and people are noticing it across different TV brands, including Hisense, TCL, Sony, and Philips.
One user tied it to YouTube’s rollout of a new account switcher feature that started appearing in late October. The company added a Netflix-style profile picker that shows up when you launch the app, letting you choose which account to use.
Sounds convenient on paper, but the implementation seems to have severed the connection between YouTube accounts and Google TV profiles. Users on Reddit and Google’s support forums started reporting the problem around three weeks ago, with complaints picking up steam in the past two weeks.
What makes this particularly annoying is that some users got logged out of YouTube entirely and had to sign back in from scratch. Even after logging in again, the app keeps asking them to pick an account every single time they open it.
Reports are coming from Chromecast with Google TV units, Google TV Streamers, and various smart TVs with Google TV built in. Standard troubleshooting steps like clearing cache, reinstalling the app, or even factory resets aren’t fixing it. That tracks with this being a server-side change or app update rather than a device-specific glitch.
YouTube hasn’t officially acknowledged the problem, so it’s unclear if they’ll fix the problem anytime soon. But we’ll keep an eye out for any further developments and will update this article when there’s something to share.
Dwayne Cubbins
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My fascination with Android phones began the moment I got my hands on one. Since then, I've been on a journey to decode the ever-evolving tech landscape, fueled by a passion for both the "how" and the "why." Since 2018, I've been crafting content that empowers users and demystifies the tech world. From in-depth how-to guides that unlock your phone's potential to breaking news based on original research, I strive to make tech accessible and engaging.