Android 4.2 adds multi-user support for tablets

Google has announced Android 4.2, described as “a new flavor of Jelly Bean”, which adds a number of new features to Android 4.1 but is essentially the same OS. One long awaited addition is multi-user support for tablets; users will get their own apps and data but apps are shared locally so only one user has to download or update an application. An application will appear as a fresh instance when another user installs it. When a user switches to another account, if there is a task to be completed, such as a download or a sync, the app is allowed to run in the background.