Zite adds much-requested support for shared iPads
updated 03:45 pm EDT, Fri October 21, 2011
Zite app allows multiple user sign-ins
Zite, which makes the namesake iPad magazine app (free, App Store), has now added a new feature that lets users create and switch between more than one user profiles on the same iPad. Called Sybil, it's meant to recommend personalized content to each member of a household rather than keep contents private. The feature was born after Zite's survey of over 300 iPad users found that about a third share their tablets with others.
Two-thirds of that one-third shares it with one other person while a quarter shares it with two others. The profile switcher is also relegated only to the app rather than the entire device.
Zite also added the ability to block specific sources and integration with Twitter (in devices with iOS 5). CNN recently purchased Zite for a rumored $20 million.
A common complaint of mobile tablets so far is their frequent inability to accommodate multiple users. While multiple logins are common on the desktop, iOS, Android, BlackBerry Tablet OS, and others assume only one user exists.




Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2008
Apple should bake this in
We all know that iPads are often shared, so Apple should allow for user accounts rather than leaving app developers to come up with ad-hoc solutions.