I have multiple managed users. They cannot log into my account, as it is password protected, but they are able to switch between their accounts. As they have different levels of restrictions, I would like to stop this from happening. Is there a way to lock a device (tablet) to only one managed user?
pins on each user?
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Thanks for responding. Won’t they have to know their pin to log in? Or do I just need to log them in once? I want it to just work for them without having to log in every time one of them would like to use the app on their respective device.
If I’m understanding correctly they would be able to use the pin and then you instruct them to set the relevant player to sign in automatically.
After that it shouldn’t prompt them for a pin.
(Unless things are done differently for managed users)
The more brutal option would of course be
“Stop logging into other people’s account or face the consequences”
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I did see an option to sign in automatically under my account but not theirs. I’ll try setting PINs and see how that goes. Thanks.
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Actually I just checked this on iOS.
The option for some reason is NOT there for managed users (exactly as you said)
For my Shared users it definitely is.
Sorry for misleading you.
all users can have a pin set. If each user had their own pin that is a secret then this should do what you want.
or am i misunderstanding something?
Yes, that is what I will have to try (setting PINs). My concern is teaching the younger ones their PINs and having them each remember what it is every time they log in. Any other app will allow them to directly access videos without having to log in but Plex doesn’t seem to have that capability without also giving them the ability to switch between the PIN-less accounts. It would be nice if I could just specify a managed account for a specific device.
if you’ve used Netflix at all you’d be facing the exact same issue unless you create entire new accounts and share your library that way rather than managed users under your account.
You make a valid point. I still think it would be useful to have a feature where a device could only access one managed account, once a parent sets it up. A “PlexKids” version, if you will.
even Netflix don’t do this, i doubt Plex would consider it. Anyway the options to do what you want exist right now. Create Users and set pins or create friend accounts for each device, easy peasy.
That’s what the aforementioned “Automatic sign-in” is for.
You sign in as the parent, you enable Automatic sign-in in the app settings, you switch to the kid’s profile – that’s it. If your kid subsequently opens the app, they’ll be logged in with that managed user.
Keep in mind… if your other kid(s) get their hands on the device, they’ll play things as that other child or see the stuff that only your older kid should see.
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what you are describing is exacting what would happen if you had multiple users on an iOS or Android device and people just switched back and forth between them.
I’m kind of confused why Plex should be any different from literally everything else on the market?
I was not aware that automatic sign-in worked this way. I didn’t want to set that up as I only saw that option on my account and I obviously don’t want managed users to be able to access my account. If I can set that up, then switch to a managed account that has a PIN set, and this prevents the need to use a PIN every time, then that solves my issue. Thank you!
Just to re-iterate and re-phrase tom80H’s warning:
If you enable that option, be careful if you temporarily switch to an “adult” or pin-protected user.
Be sure to switch away before you walk away, or the app will continue to automatically sign in as that user next time it’s opened.
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To be clear, you cannot prevent a user in Plex Home (i.e managed user) from trying to switch to another user. That’s the entire point of Plex Home, to make it easy to switch accounts.
The only way to prevent that is to not use Plex Home, but instead share to a regular Plex user account. They will then need to sign into the client with their Plex credentials. Since they are not part of Plex Home, they won’t see the other users.
Of course this has the downside that they wi not receive the benefits of Plex Home. This is the only way to not be able to switch users.
Except by setting a different PIN for every managed user.
(But even this is found out relatively quickly.)
Ok, changed my words. 
Here’s why a feature like this would be useful:
Let’s say you have a small child that uses a bulbous bright-colored tablet. This child can turn on their tablet, see the PBSKids app, touch it to launch it, and be presented with options of PBS shows to watch.
It would be nice if Plex had the option to work this way. Sure, I can set up PINs for everyone but then I have to teach the child their PIN and make sure their caregiver knows the PIN as well in case it’s forgotten. Additonally, if the child hits a barrier trying to access something, they will quickly stop using that and go for easier options. That would be a shame, as I have great educational content loaded on my Plex server and I prefer watching local versions to streaming ones, if I can help it.
However, saying all that, the issue seems to be solved now by setting PINs for everyone, setting up automatic sign-in, and making sure to switch back to the managed account. This process was not the clearest thing to figure out.
Users aren’t required to have a PIN.
