David Farnor | On 28, Apr 2021

Netflix has finally added its own random button, with the new shuffle feature Play Something.

There are times when everybody doesn’t want to make to make a decision. A Friday evening after a long work week. A family movie night where no one can agree. That inevitable fact of human existence is particularly dangerous when it comes to streaming, as people end up just scrolling through endless menus and spending more time browsing than watching anything – if ever finding anything at all.

That, of course, is where VODzilla.co comes in, from our reviews and curated recommendations to warnings about what’s about to leave your favourite streaming services. In the past, we’ve even offered a Netflix random button to pick something from the service and start playing it.

Now, Netflix is adding its own shuffle button, with a new feature called Play Something. When you hit the ‘Play Something’ button that appears, you’ll be instantly met with a series or film that Netflix has randomly selected – well, almost randomly. The VOD giant using what you’ve watched before to pick one of several things: a new series or film you’re not watching, a series or film you’re already watching, a series or film on your watchlist, or a series or film you haven’t finished and may want to revisit.

The feature, which was announced in an earnings call at the start of the year, is available now on TVs and will soon be launched on Android mobile devices. It is not currently available on iOS devices or web browsers.

On your TV, the button appears underneath your profile name and in the tenth row on your Netflix homepage, as well as in the navigation menu on the left of the screen. For subscribers that use screen-readers, Play Something also supports Text-to-Speech (TTS).

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