Popular streaming service Netflix announced that it is currently testing a new feature for its Android app. The streaming service added a sleep timer and is monitoring if it will take off.
Netflix sleep timer features
The new feature can be set up by the user to immediately stop playing a show or movie after four set intervals of time, that's 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes or users can choose to automatically close it at the end of the movie or show. This new feature can help the user to catch up on the show or movie and save their phone's battery life.
In order to turn it on, Android users will have to click on the clock icon located in the top right-hand section of the screen that will give the four timer options. All of the timer options can be snoozed if the user is still awake at the end of the chosen sleep timer interval, according to Engadget.
The sleep timer feature is limited to adult profiles on Android phones and tablets, but Netflix stated that in the future, they will be rolling the feature out to more platforms including desktop and TV sets. The roll out will depend on how the users feel about the sleep timer feature and if they think it is helpful enough to keep around.
Netflix did not comment on whether they will also make it available to iOS or Mac devices or not.
Netflix's shuffle feature
Netflix is constantly upgrading their service, and is adding more features that makes watching movies or shows easier for its users. Just recently, Netflix added the shuffle play feature and will be available worldwide before the end of 2021.
The shuffle play lets the app decide on what the user can watch next based on the algorithms. Since the summer of 2020, Netflix had been testing the feature on TV platforms, according to Variety.
Greg Peters, the COO and chief product officer of Netflix said that the shuffle play feature will be permanent. He said that users come to the service and they sometimes do not know what they want to watch.
Peters said that the new feature is working for them as their members can indicate that they want to skip browsing entirely, just click one button and they will be the ones to pick what to watch next based on the pattern of movies or TV shows they've watched previously, according to TechCrunch.
Currently, the test versions of shuffle play show up on Netflix's TV apps. It can be seen on the initial profile login screen that shows "Who's watching Netflix?". There is a button blew the profile that says either "Play Something" or "Shuffle Play."
There is also an option that is labeled "Play Something/ Shuffle Play" which then asks "Not sure what to watch?" located in the sidebar menu. When you launch the shuffle play, the screen pops up another button that says "Play Something Else" if the movie or TV show that shows is something you are not interested in.
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Written by Sieeka Khan
