Amazon Prime Video tests shuffle play feature

Amazon Prime Video has become the latest streaming video platform to dabble in providing a shuffle play feature for users who can’t or don’t want to decide what to watch.

Android Police spotted the new shuffle play button on Amazon Prime Video’s app on Android devices. For now, it appears that the feature only works for episodes within a single season of a series.

The Amazon Prime Video shuffle play popped up while streaming rivals like Netflix plan to expand similar feature. During Netflix’s most recent earnings call, Netflix COO Greg Peters said users sometimes show up and they're not really sure what they want to watch. One example of how Netflix is addressing this problem is through a linear feed, which the company is testing in France.

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“I think an even better example of that is a new feature that we've been testing and we're going to now roll out globally, because it's really working for us where our members can basically indicate to us that they just want to skip browsing entirely, click one button and we'll pick a title for them just to instantly play,” said Peters. “And that's a great mechanism that's worked quite well for members in that situation.”

Last year, Amazon Prime Video followed its streaming peers in testing out a co-watching experience for its U.S. subscribers. The feature supports chat with up to 100 people and doesn’t require a plug-in.

The service last year also finally added user profiles, a feature that services including Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and Disney+ already had in place. Each profile includes separate recommendations, season progress and a Watchlist based on individual profile activity.