Android L Phones Will Support Multiuser Functionality
It became possible to create several accounts on an Android mobile device with the release of Android 4.2. The feature was greatly improved on Android 4.3, but the only sad thing was that the feature was meant only for tablets and remained unavailable for smartphones. But recently Google said that the “L”-remedy is on its way.
It all started with a post on the Android issue tracker when a user wrote a complaint about the lack of multiaccount functionality in smartphones. The person also wrote that «some families are sharing their phones with their kids for gaming» and suggested implementing a feature that would allow to create a «restricted account type for kids».
A couple of hours later, the issue has been closed by one of the developers saying: «The development team has implemented this feature and it will be available as a part of the next public build». And there is no doubt that the «new built» is the upcoming «L» which is said to roll out later this year. It isn't clear though whether the Googler was speaking about the multiuser functionality proper, or also about that age restriction thing.
Having several accounts may be extremely useful for those who share their device with other people and want to leave some of the content untouchable. Yep, there is a number of apps that can do that, like those we've put in the Referenced Programs, but they can only lock certain types of content, while separate accounts completely delimit the whole content base. Besides, having two accounts is much more convenient and safer than relying on a third party app, even of a high quality.
VIA: Android Police
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