Browsing for ages? Netflix’s Shuffle Play coming this year

We’ve all been there — scrolling endlessly through the Netflix home screen, with nothing looking particularly enticing for that moment in time. Some days you scroll for longer than it takes to watch one episode of The Office. And finally, Netflix plans to roll out a solution to all users later this year. 

The Shuffle Play feature was seen on a select group of user accounts in 2020, but it hasn’t made it to the larger public yet. According to Variety, the feature will roll out officially in the second half of 2021. 

Netflix knows what you want

As part of its latest financial results, Netflix hinted at a shuffle capability that’ll come to the service. This will allow any user to cut out the time-consuming browsing phase and skip right to the watching phase by suggesting a random show to watch according to your viewing history. 

Interesting new feature @netflix … but what kind of insane person just says, “yolo, let’s spin the Netflix wheel of fortune” pic.twitter.com/6WDJrmd7pG

— Turner Levison (@TurnerLevison) August 18, 2020

The streaming service doesn’t have a name for the feature yet, as it’s been called Shuffle Play as well as Play Something in its testing phases. The Verge reports that, during Netflix’s earnings presentation, co-CEO Reed Hastings joked that they might call it “I’m Feeling Lucky.” but immediately shot down the idea. Because, well, Google did it first. 

It’s a good idea that may bring back the childlike excitement experienced when switching on the TV with little to no control over what’s showing. Just this time, it’s based on things you actually like to watch. Lucky for us, Netflix is planning to debut a new movie every week for this whole year, so content should be abundant. 

Source: The Verge