The great thing about Android is that it’s open source, which allows developers as well as manufacturers to provide their own skins on top of the AOSP code. While most of these skins add tons of useful features to one’s devices, they sometimes come at the expense of a few key ones. One such feature is multi-user support. Google includes the user accounts feature as part of the AOSP code that allows you to share a phone with someone you know. It’s like having multiple accounts on a computer. For this reason, some OEMs like Samsung and LG prefer to remove this feature from their custom skins. Don’t worry because if you have a device that doesn’t have the option to create multiple users, read on as we tell you. How to enable multiple user accounts on any Android device:
Enable Multi-User Support by Editing the Build.prop File
note: I tried the following method on my rooted Samsung Galaxy S8 and unrooted Samsung Galaxy S7 and it worked just fine.
- To get started, you need to modify the build.prop file in your device’s /system partition. If you have root access, download and install most BuildProp Editor app (free) and give it root permissions. As an alternaive, if you don’t have root accessRead our guide on how to edit the build.prop file without root access here.
- Now, Open the BuildProp Editor application. In the upper right corner, tap “pen” icon To start editing the build.prop file.
- Now that your build.prop file is open in edit mode, scroll down to the very bottom and click Add the following two lines:
fw.max_users=3fw.show_multiuserui=1
- After doing that, tap on it. save icon in the top right select and “Save Exit”.
- And that’s it. Restart your device for changes to occur. You should now have multiple user account features on the Quick Settings page on your Android device.
SEE ALSO: How to Add Brightness Slider to Status Bar on Android
Enable Multiple User Accounts on Your Android Device
It’s a very useful feature to have on your Android device, as it allows you to easily share your device with friends and family, while multiple user accounts restrict them from accessing your personal data or changing your settings. While multiuser is part of the AOSP code, many manufacturers prefer to remove them from their custom builds. That said, modifying the build.prop file should easily restore the feature to your device. I think multiple user accounts are a great feature to have on your device. What about you? Let us know what you think about user accounts on Android in the comments section below.
This tutorial was originally published at: XDA Developers. We tried it and it works fine.
