Netflix Is Trialling A ‘Shuffle’ Button To Put An End To Your Listless Scrolling

Some Netflix users are noticing a new ‘shuffle’ option, as the streaming giant confirms it is trialling out the long-awaited feature.

It looks a little different between users — some report a ‘shuffle’ button at the user screen, while others are noticing a ‘play something’ button on their drop-down menus — but the feature works the same either way.

It’s designed, of course, to put an end to the painful scrolling through titles with friends, families and partners, where it seems impossible to agree on one thing.

As per The Verge, it’s not necessarily completely random, as they report the ‘play something’ feature recommended an episode of The Umbrella Academy to a staff member “because you watched Spider-Man“, suggesting it plays off their existing recommendation algorithm.

Netflix is testing a ‘Shuffle’ button for indecisive viewers. pic.twitter.com/PyHcdZNAts

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 19, 2020

Previously, Netflix has trialled a similar function where it randomly plays a ‘popular episode’ of a sitcom — perfect for when you don’t know which episode of Arrested Development to watch for the 50th time.

Anecdotally, Junkee can’t confirm that the shuffle or play something trial is being rolled out in the antipodean market, but has reached out to Netflix ANZ for comment. It’s pretty common practice for Netflix and other sites to trial features in specific markets, rather than all at once.

“We run these tests in different countries and for different periods of time – and only make them broadly available if people find them useful,” a Netflix rep told The Verge.

For now, you might have to keep scrolling — though with Friends on the way in September, it might be easier to just give up and settle for the world’s most agreeable show.