Confused what to watch on Netflix? Take a cue from streaming giant’s latest feature

Netflix has officially rolled out its new “Play Something” feature that will automatically suggest news shows and movies, based on your interests and prior viewing behaviour. The new feature, based on algorithms of users’ existing profile and taste in shows and movie, will make it easier for them to find something to watch when they are stuck browsing and unable to make a decision.

“When finding your next story, let the story find you,” Cameron Johnson, Netflix’s director of product innovation, said in a statement. “Whether you’re in the mood for a new or familiar favorite, just ‘Play Something’ and let Netflix handle the rest.”

In other words, it won’t play random content, but will instead bring up either a movie or show you’re already watching, a series or movie on your list, an unfinished series or movie you may want to revisit, Tech crunch reported.

The new feature is initially available on TV app. It could be found underneath the profile name, on the navigation menu to the left of the screen and on the tenth row on the Netflix homepage. The OTT giant said it will launch the feature on its Android mobile app soon. For now, Netflix doesn’t have details on when Play Something will be available on iOS devices, nor does it currently have plans to intro the feature for web browsers.

During its Q4 earnings, Netflix said the shuffle feature would roll out to its worldwide users sometime in the first half of 2021, describing it as a way for users to “instantly watch a title chosen just for them.”

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Meanwhile, the streaming service’s subscriber growth is slowing far faster than anticipated as people who have been cooped at home are able to get out and do other things again. It added 4 million more worldwide subscribers from January through March, its smallest gain during that three-month period in four years.

The performance reported on April 20 was about 2 million fewer subscribers than both management and analysts had predicted Netflix would add during the first quarter.

It marked a huge comedown from the same time last year when Netflix added nearly 16 million subscribers. That came just as governments around the world imposed lockdowns that created a huge captive audience for the leading video-streaming service.