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Android TV restricted profile vs Google TV kids profile

By The TameTV team · Updated November 3, 2026

An Android TV restricted profile is a separate profile behind a PIN that can only open the apps you pick. It exists on plain Android TV, has no time limits, and if you forget its PIN the only way back is a factory reset. Google TV doesn't have it: kids profiles replaced it, and they add a daily time limit and a bedtime.

Those two profiles are the main built-in options, but there are several smaller ones too. This guide goes through each of them, what it blocks, and where it stops.

Plain Android TV or Google TV: check this first

Which options you have depends on which system your TV runs. The quickest check is the home screen.

1. Press the Home button on your remote.
2. If there is a "For you" tab at the top and a profile picture you can switch between, you have Google TV.
3. If not, you most likely have plain Android TV. Settings → About shows the model and Android version; where that section sits varies by model.

Plain Android TV includes the Mi TV Stick and older Xiaomi, TCL, Hisense and Philips Android TV sets. Google TV includes the Chromecast with Google TV, the Google TV Streamer, and Google TV sets from Hisense, Philips, Sony and TCL.

What works today without TameTV

The Android TV restricted profile

The restricted profile is plain Android TV's own kids option. On many TVs the path is:

1. Settings → Personal → Security & Restrictions.
2. Choose Create restricted profile.
3. Set a PIN.
4. Tick the apps the profile is allowed to open.

Once it's set up, your child uses the restricted profile and only sees the apps you ticked. It works as an app allow-list and nothing more. There is no Play Store inside it. Some apps don't support restricted profiles and may not work in one. There are no time limits and no schedule. Google's page is Create a restricted profile on Android TV.

If you forget the restricted profile PIN

There is no PIN reset. Google's answer for a forgotten restricted profile PIN is a factory data reset, which erases your apps and channels, so you set up the TV again from the start. Write the PIN down somewhere your child won't find it.

If parental controls seem to be missing

If you can't find the restricted profile on your TV, there are three common reasons.

• The menu moves. Its location varies by maker and Android version, so look through Settings for Security, Restrictions or Parental controls.
• Sony changed it. On Sony TVs with Android 10 and up, the restricted profile was replaced by Parental controls → Apps, where you lock chosen apps behind a PIN.
• Google TV doesn't have it. On Google TV you'll find kids profiles instead.

The Google TV kids profile

On Google TV, you add a kids profile from the profile menu on the TV. On the Google TV Streamer the option is called "Add a kid". In the kids profile you can:

• choose which apps appear;
• set a daily screen-time limit for the days you pick, from 15 minutes to 8 hours in 15-minute steps;
• set a bedtime with a start and end time, in 30-minute steps, on the days you pick;
• give bonus time behind your PIN or password;
• turn on the kids lock, so leaving the profile needs your PIN or password.

Your child gets three countdown warnings before the limit, then a "Time is up" screen. Rating limits apply only to Google's own recommendations and the Family Library, not inside apps. Google's steps are on Set up a kids profile on Google TV.

From the Family Link app on your phone you can see app activity and block or allow apps in the kids profile. The time limit and bedtime can only be set on the TV. Kids profiles also aren't offered everywhere: Google launched them in the US in 2021 and says they "may not be available in some regions or on some devices". If yours is missing, see Google TV kids profile not available. And if you're trying Family Link on a plain Android TV, our guide on Family Link and Xiaomi TVs explains why it doesn't connect.

Options on an adult profile

These work on the profile you use yourself. None of them sets a time limit.

• Apps only mode (Google TV) hides personalised recommendations and turns off Search, the Assistant and the Watchlist. It doesn't block any app, and YouTube still shows its own recommendations.
• Basic TV mode turns the TV into live TV and inputs only, with no Google account and no apps.
• Profile lock puts a PIN on entering or switching profiles.
• Play Store parental controls set a PIN and a maximum rating for downloads and purchases on that device.

Content PINs in the TV's own settings

Many TVs have their own parental settings for live TV, separate from Google's. They set a PIN on channels by content rating. Philips TVs, for example, often ship with the default PIN 1234, so change it first. On TCL Google TV sets, Settings → System → Parental Controls offers a channel lock, broadcast ratings, an inputs lock, a lock for the TV's buttons, a channel-scan lock and a maximum volume. Some Hisense models list app blocking under Parental Control too. These settings mostly cover broadcast TV, not apps. Our guide on blocking YouTube on TCL and Hisense goes into more detail.

Sony's per-app PIN lock

On Sony TVs with Android 10 and up, Parental controls → Apps lets you pick apps that need a PIN to open. It's one of the few built-in ways to lock a single app such as YouTube on an adult profile, but it has no time limit: the app is either locked or open.

How the built-in options compare

Where it falls short

Each option does one job. None of them combines picking apps, limiting time and changing things from your phone on plain Android TV.

• No time limits on plain Android TV. The restricted profile only chooses apps. A sleep timer, where your TV has one, turns the TV off once; it isn't a daily schedule, and a kid can switch the TV back on.
• No per-app time limits anywhere. Even a Google TV kids profile has one limit for everything, so you can't give YouTube 30 minutes and other apps more.
• Changes happen on the TV. On Google TV, Family Link can block apps, but the daily limit and bedtime can't be set from your phone.
• The Play Store PIN is easy to get around. Apps already installed stay usable, and anyone who can reach Settings can clear the Play Store's storage and remove the controls.
• A forgotten restricted profile PIN costs you a factory reset.
• Kids profiles depend on region and device. Google publishes no list of countries.

Parents have also reported, in Google's community forums, a kids profile or its YouTube sign-in disappearing, and in 2022–23 YouTube time not counting toward the daily limit. We don't know whether these still happen.

How TameTV will handle it

TameTV is in development. It will run on Android TV and Google TV, Android 9 and up, including plain Android TV sets that have no kids profile. It takes the parts that work in the built-in options and puts them in one place:

1. A daily budget for total screen time, per kid.
2. Per-app limits: YouTube 30 minutes, Netflix 90, or whatever you decide.
3. Allowed hours: the TV works when you say and locks when you don't.
4. From your phone, anywhere: change limits, lock the TV, add bonus time.

Like a restricted profile, each kid will get their own list of allowed apps, and a new kid starts with everything blocked except the apps you tick. Kids will pick their profile on a "who's watching?" screen, get a 5-minute and a 1-minute warning before a limit, and find Settings and the Play Store locked. A bedtime shortcut will block everything after a set time until morning. You keep a parent PIN to override.

The honest limits:

• On Android 10 and up, locking needs the Accessibility permission, which you grant during setup. Without it TameTV can only count time.
• Some Sony firmware refuses the Usage Access permission TameTV needs, which is why the Sony page is marked "Expected: Limited".
• TameTV can't see inside the YouTube app. It will limit YouTube time or block the app for a kid.
• Compatibility is expected, not confirmed on real devices yet. See the pages for Nvidia Shield and Philips, and how TameTV works for the setup.

If none of the built-in options fits your family, you can join the waitlist to hear when TameTV is ready.