After limited testing in selected regions earlier in the year, Netflix has now rolled out the “Play Something” shuffle mode to all Android users globally.
Designed to help take the stress out of finding something to watch — which is half the battle with most streaming services — “Play Something” simply opens and plays a movie or TV show based upon your previous watch history and interests (via TechCrunch). Netflix had confirmed that “Play Something” would come to Android earlier this year after the limited test launched, but it has taken a little longer than anticipated to arrive across the board.
Over the coming weeks when you launch Netflix on your Android device, you’ll gain a pill-shaped “Play Something” button in the main homepage view that includes a shuffle icon. Tapping will just instantly launch a random show or movie in the content database from your local region in a landscape preview window. This feature works in the exact same way as it does on the desktop and various TV versions of the Netflix app — in that it allows you to “skip” to another recommended show if the pre-determined selection is not to your liking.
Netflix’s own support pages for the feature note that this might not be visible to everyone right away, as new subscribers may need to use the service for the recommendation algorithm to be able to pick shows that viewers may enjoy:
On an Android phone, you can find “Play Something” as an icon on your homescreen and as the 17th row. New Netflix members see the “Play Something” icon after their first month.
The video streaming service also states that suggestions as part of the “Play Something” feature will surface content that you “haven’t finished watching” or from your “My List” watchlist section, which you can also populate from your Android device for added fine-tuning. If you use Netflix on your Android device, you should soon see the option from your homepage.
More on Android:
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