(Pocket-lint) – We all know the pain of trying to find a new series or movie to watch on Netflix – it doesn’t matter how long your watchlist has gotten, there’s never an easy way around it.
Netflix clearly knows that people spend a whole bunch of time browsing for new stuff, too, which is why it’s testing out a new shuffle-style feature in a few different ways.
Right now, that means that some users are seeing a “Shuffle Play” button below their profile icon when they log into the service, encouraging them to let Netflix take care of the selection and just start watching.
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
It follows previous tests where a “Play Something” button was added to the sidebar of the streaming service’s TV app, with the same outcome. The idea being that Netflix knows your watch history, and what you’ve rated highly or lowly in that time, so it should be well-placed to serve you up a show or movie.
Of course, as the Recommended For You section often shows, that selection isn’t always flawless, so it’ll be interesting to see how people find the system, and whether Netflix rolls it out permanently as a consequence.
For now the button is only appearing to some users, and only on TVs, not mobile devices or on the web. It’s something to look out for next time you log on!
Writing by Max Freeman-Mills.
