Is Netflix testing a ‘random episode’ button?
Apr 22, 2019
Not sure what you want to watch? Netflix might have a solution: a random episode button, The Verge reports.
The new option would appear in two different ways. A button that reads “Play a Popular Episode” appears on the home screen of the Netflix app with pictures of “The Office,” “Arrested Development” and “Our Planet” — a sign that the button would send you to a random episode of those shows.
Then there’s also a “random episode” button on Netflix that would send you to a random episode of other non-serialized shows you’ve watched before.
“Obviously, there are plenty of serialized shows where being dropped into any random episode really wouldn’t make much sense or be enjoyable,” according to The Verge.
The new function is only being tested right now.
So how did we find this? Netflix’s Android app reportedly added a new function that “offered to randomly select something to watch. And in the playback controls, there’s a shuffle icon with a ‘Random Episode’ label,” according to Android Police.
And, according to MacRumors, there’s a “new feature on mobile that allows select users to ‘Play a Popular Episode’ of certain TV shows, without having to scroll through and pick which one they want to watch.”
What does that mean? It sounds like Netflix could be adding a “random episode” button that will send you a random episode of a random show whenever you’re unclear on what to watch, according to Uproxx.
“The function is currently only available for select Android users, but if/when it’s introduced to a wider audience, no longer will subscribers be condemned to a life of choosing which episode of ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ or ‘Umbrella Academy’ to watch,” Uproxx reported.