“What should I watch next?” is an age-old question, and there’s no simple answer to it. You can ask your friends for some suggestions, or browse sites like JustWatch or Lazyday to look for your next watch. Now, Netflix wants to make this decision for you, by introducing a shuffle button to your home screens.
The idea is simple and intriguing. If you’re tired of picking a show or a movie, Netflix will line up some stuff for you based on your previous watches, watchlist, and interests. The button is currently popping up only on Netflix’s TV apps. It’s not clear if it’ll be introduced to other devices and mediums too. We’ve asked Netflix for more details, and we’ll update the story if we hear back.
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Shuffle play on Netflix. It's a thing… pic.twitter.com/Le1D3IxRwp
— Tom Hodgson (@tall_n_moody) August 18, 2020
The new Netflix button ‘shuffle play’ just saved me like 45 minutes to choose a movie I wasn’t even going to watch.
— aphrodite (@babyy_aphrodite) August 14, 2020
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Why does my Netflix have a ‘shuffle play’ option? Who would ever use this and why?
— Siphokazi Kayana (@SiphokaziKayana) August 13, 2020
Whether people will love it or hate it entirely depends on what kind of content it suggests. I wouldn’t mind watching a nice documentary or an episode from an anthology series out of the blue. But it shouldn’t show me a random episode of a series I haven’t watched yet.
It’s important for Netflix that you keep using the service and spend as much time as you can. They’ve introduced new show notifications, alert messages through WhatsApp, and pre-rolled videos to make the experience more engaging and to keep you glued to your TV. Now to see if this feature adds to your screen time.
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