Amazon Prime Video distributes a few features that allow users to navigate through programs of TV shows and play one at random. The new feature seems to be only available on the Amazon Prime Video Android app for now, and there are some other restrictions on display selection. The feature aims to help users find content for random viewing without finding too much – great for when you want to binge a retrospective of old shows or children’s cartoons, among other types.
The feature seems to have been rolled out for Android devices for now, and was available on our app when we reviewed. The shuffle function only shows the events of the particular show you selected – and is further restricted to events within the same season or collection, so it will not randomly draw up a horrible show in the middle of a cartoon binge, for example. Netflix has also been working on a similar feature, but Amazon seems to be hitting a wider distribution here.
Amazon Prime Video users who find some appeal in this feature are those who watch sitcoms, especially older shows that seem to be viewed multiple times. Because viewing order is not as important as these shows, difficult times to watch one at random – even within a season – can be useful in bringing viewers into the content. quickly and with fewer obstacles that a choice must be made. Such a feature could come in very handy with children’s content, where the specific event and visual order will not have a significant impact on the experience.
Netflix has been testing a similar feature since August 2020, and it has been announced that it will be rolled out to all users sometime in 2021. The implementation is different though however, since it moves through the entire Netflix catalog to select something completely at random, while it moves Amazon’s implementation requires the user to select a show and season first, before they simply select an individual program within these parameters at random.
While the feature seems to be only available on Android for now, it is possible that it will eventually be released for other platforms such as iOS, Fire TV, and Android TV as well. Of course, a feature like this won’t be too useful when watching bespoke TV shows that follow a serial plot, but it should be appealing to people reloading their favorite shows.
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