Have you ever been in a situation where you know you want to watch something but you’re not quite sure what that something is? Amazon Prime Video may have you covered with their latest feature.
The “shuffle” button, first discovered by Android Police, would allow users to start a series at a random point in the show’s episode lineup. From there, they can watch sequential episodes in order or switch to something else if they didn’t particularly enjoy the previous show.
However, Amazon won’t pick the show — users have to select the show and season they’d like to shuffle through, which would be great for sitcoms or non-episodic programming, but could be confusing when dealing with an episodic TV series. A shuffle button would certainly be useful for kid’s shows, where parents would no longer have to drudge through every episode of a show just for their child to walk away from the screen 15 minutes in.
Netflix tested a shuffle-play option last summer to resounding success, with plans to release the feature to all users “in the first half of 2021,” so it makes sense for competitors to get into the game. Netflix’s shuffle button allowed users to pick shows based on their watch history, giving it a leg up over Amazon’s rumored feature. Could Hulu, with its myriad of episodic TV options, be next?
Amazon has not issued an official statement, so there’s no timetable on when this feature will appear on devices, but it could potentially return for some users. It’s worth checking into your account to see if Amazon’s gifted you with the shuffle button.
Amazon Prime Video is available on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Android TV, iPhone, iPad, PlayStation, Xbox, Samsung Smart TVs (2015+), VIZIO Smart TVs (2015+),and LG Smart TVs (2015+).