Android is about to support multiple user accounts

It was recently discovered that Google, in your code AOSP, for nearly a year has put some parts that suggest support for multi-user functionality, thus enabling a single device can be used more easily by users.

It may seem inappropriate but ... how many times someone needs to close, for any reason whatsoever, to use our tablet or smartphone? If this happens often, it makes sense to set up an account for that user, and to enable rapid use of the Android system in full, either to preserve the current settings or privacy or even to separate the job profile of leisure.


This feature is one of the few things that an operating system of a PC and supports Android does not, and may be one of the main innovations of the next version of Android. Each user may have configured stored in separate folders of the system, installed applications, data applications, system settings, lock screens, running applications, widgets and shortcuts on the homescreen, accounts, timing and language.

Currently when someone asks to use our device, which is fully integrated into our Google account, there is always some fear that something will go down as we left and this will result in some inconvenience to restore, not to mention privacy concerns (when applied). Thus it is quite complicated sharing device.

According to Google AndroidPolice's work has been gradual and there is still much to do (or at least update the AOSP). Specifically, and most importantly, it is a strong change that will be needed in the user interface: the screen to change the user (with the proper protection on login), a new section in the settings to configure users, managing permissions and clear , an indication of what the user is currently connected. Will also need to predict how third-party applications that can integrate with this feature.

Evidence emerged initially in the source code of the lock screen. It created a method onUserChanged (int userId) making sure that when there is a change of user, lock screen is reloaded with the security settings of the current user. This aroused the curiosity and all the code was searched to uncover more clues.



In the code, there are comments associated with commits - changes to the code - which refer to a lot of information related to multiple users. The first is to show respect "in Plumbing and PackageManager installd for multi-user support", dated April 14, 2011, and makes the applications are no longer stored in the path /data/data but in /data/user/0. This change is already visible on devices with the latest versions of Android. For compatibility, the connection is maintained between these two paths with a symlink.

There are at least four commits with several changes that give body to implement this functionality. These commits, as well as other technical details, can be found here.

There is no official information from Google and news about planning the next version of Android, so it is unclear whether this will be an integrated feature of the next version of Android, "Key Lime Pie." What is known is actually a feature that will be very welcome!

The protection to access each user account is due to the lock screen. Each user of the device so you can choose how you want to protect your data (swipe, unlocking face, drawing pattern, pin or password).

The implementation is experimental and has several problems, however it seems to come good results.

    Published By: Pplware