Will Multiple User Accounts (MUA) Come To The Nexus 7 Tablet?

[Babyfacemagee]

If there's one feature that is commonplace on desktop operating systems that is missing from all the major mobile OS's including Android it's support for multiple users on one device.   But a discovery by XDA forum member Zanderman112 among others shows that the latest version of Android, version 4.1 Jelly Bean actually has the nuts and bolts of 'multiple User Accounts' (MUA) already built in!   Apparently the feature is not complete...but appears to be in the works and very well could appear on future versions of the OS or even an upgrade to Jelly Bean.

Now on a phone it could be argued that multiple users might be an unnecessary feature since our phones are typically used by just one person but what about tablets?  A tablet is often shared by numerous people in a household...between couples, parents and children or between siblings or work associates.  Wouldn't it be great if you could 'log in' to an individual account that held your own personal settings, bookmarks and downloads as well as kept private items like emails and files separate from other 'users' of the same device?  There a whole list of possible benefits of this that I can think of for this functionality. 

Now apparently 'miles of code' dating back as far as 2011 exists in the OS already  for 'MUA'.  Is this something you'd like to see on the Nexus 7?  Tell us how you might use multiple user accounts on your tablet in your own household if it became a new feature you could use.

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[jrdouce]

I think MUA support would be a big selling point on higher end tablets. 

My family has an iPad 2, I never use it because I can't personalize anything.  I bought the Nexus 7 to be mine.  At $200, I'm happy with single user.  But if I'm to shell out $600 - $800 on a tablet as a laptop replacement, or home entertainment device, I don't want to have to share email (or log into a web page every time I want check email), and I don't want to listen to my kids fight over you spent the points I earned in game "x".   And I don't want my kids hitting the buy button when my credit card is in the Play store.

[whysoserious_058]

 Here is a video that is cirrulating the forums about how to enable the MUA feature on Jellybean devices.  I have yet to try it on my nexus7, but probably will soon.  Has anyone tried this yet? Maybe set up an experimental account for the kids with some apps hidden(disabled) 

[JayJ]

I understand why some people many want this feature as mentioned above in high end devices that are shared by people buy personally I would have no use for it, my N7 is mine and I certainly won't be letting the missus or my girls ( 7&8 ) get they're hands in my beloved N7...

[nxtab]

I see multi user support as a must have feature and they need to get this in asap.

Whilst it isn't needed for phones as typically these aren't shared, tablets on the other hand will sit in people's living rooms and will be passed around between family members. 

There is no point in having one of these each, in fact I wouldn't want my kids to have one each as sharing them seems like a good device for limiting use.  Whilst frustrating for the kids it means mum/dad can easily say 'I need to check my mail' easily avoiding a big fuss.

For me the Nexus 7 fits nicely into a limited use case where the family and I use it to look up things in front of the telly, or check our email.  For "proper" stuff we go back to our desktops, I find it hard to do any "real" work on anything other than my large monitors!  In this scenario multi user support is a must and tbh I am still surprised its taken this long to get it in.

Edit by S.Prime - Moved post to a topic on this discussion