At first glance, Apple didn't change very much about the Apple TV 4K with the release of tvOS 26 this past fall. This isn't exactly surprising, given that the set-top box and its OS have felt like Apple's forgotten platform over the last few years.
That said, there are a few new notable features included in the latest Apple TV update, including Liquid Glass' flashy UI redesign, new screensavers (if I'm being honest, the screensavers are my favorite Apple TV feature), a revamped Apple TV app that's slightly easier to navigate, and, of course, the Apple TV 4K's Profile Selector screen.
After installing tvOS 26, every time you turn on the Apple TV 4K, including when waking it from sleep mode, you need to select which family member account you want to use. Profiles are a long-requested Apple TV 4K feature that's genuinely very useful if multiple people in your household use the same Apple TV 4K, as it gives each viewer their own recommendations, accounts, and individual settings.
While user profiles have been around for several tvOS generations, they have been buried under several layers of settings menus (in fact, I forgot they even existed until the launch of tvOS 26). This change brings them to the forefront in a way that demands attention.
Not everyone needs to access profiles at login
Thankfully, the user profiles are easy to turn off
But if you're like me, and it's mostly just you using your Apple TV 4K (and sometimes my partner), you likely don't want the Profile Selector screen turned on by default since it's just another screen you need to navigate before you can get into watching that latest episode of Mayor of Kingstown on Paramount+. It's not the end of the world, but it's still a bit jarring.
Thankfully, it's really easy to turn this feature off. Here's how to make that happen:
- Turn on your Apple TV.
- Navigate to and open the Settings app.
- Select Profiles and Accounts.
- Under the Choose Profile On Wake option, select off. For Suggested Profiles, turn on Hide.
Once you've made the above changes, the next time you turn on your Apple TV 4K, it'll default to the last profile you were on. It's worth noting that this doesn't remove profiles from the Apple TV 4K entirely.
You can still access them by opening the Control Center, clicking the TV button on your Siri Remote, and then navigating to the profile you want (you'll see them at the top). You can also add a new user profile from this menu.
In other tvOS 26-related news, tvOS 26.2, the latest update, added the ability to create a guest profile that isn't linked to an Apple ID email, significantly streamlining the process.
