Netflix Is Testing A Shuffle Button For When You Just Don't Know What To Watch

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Netflix is testing a shuffle mode allowing users to watch a random episode of their favorite shows when they just don’t know what they are in the mood for.

There are days where just anything will do and nothing will really do. Streaming services like Netflix have taught us that we can watch anything we want at any time. But the “on-demand” world requires us to know what it is we want at that exact moment of time. And sometimes, we just do not know.

Netflix has started testing a new feature that can help. The new shuffle mode allows users to watch a random episode of their favorite shows, at the touch of a button. Perfect for those moments when you just don’t know what to watch and spend too much time browsing among hundreds of movies and shows without ever being able to decide.

For the moment, the feature is only being tested on the Android app, it seems, and Netflix would not confirm if it had plans to expand to other devices:

“We are testing the ability for members to play a random episode from different TV series on the Android mobile app. These tests typically vary in length of time and by region, and may not become permanent.”

The new feature offers something closer to what watching TV used to be like: watch just about whatever was on.

Netflix’s new shuffle mode allows users to watch a random episode of their favorite shows, at the touch of a button.

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The shows being tested with the new shuffle mode are perceived to be the ones users do actually watch when they don’t know what else to watch: “The Office,” “New Girl,” “Our Planet,” “Arrested Development” and similar shows. These titles appear in a new menu category called “Play a random episode.”

So is the new way of watching TV the renaissance of the old way? It appears to be so.