Have you met anyone that won’t start eating until they find something to watch? It’s not weird at all. Some people are in the habit of scrolling through contents on their preferred platforms till they find something to accompany their food. All the while, their food watches them like they are some situation comedy.
Well, to curb this, and reduce time exhausted on scrolling which can end up unproductive, YouTube is doing something cool about it, and it’s in the form of a button.
YouTube is testing a new feature that aims to end endless scrolling on its platform. The “Play Something” button, currently being tested on Android devices, promises to help users discover content more efficiently by automatically selecting videos based on their preferences.
The button is seen floating just above the app’s bottom bar, displaying white text and a play icon on a black background. When tapped, it launches videos in the platform’s portrait-oriented Shorts player interface, regardless of whether the content is a Short or traditional YouTube video.
The new feature includes user-friendly controls, featuring large buttons for likes, dislikes, comments, and sharing, along with a timeline scrubber for easy navigation through videos. The button disappears when the mini-player is active, indicating it’s designed primarily for use from the main interface.
This development bears similarities to Netflix’s “Play Something” feature launched in 2021, which offered viewers randomized content based on their viewing preferences. YouTube’s version stands out by incorporating both short-form and traditional videos into its recommendations.
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First spotted by a Reddit user in version 19.50 of the YouTube Android app in May 2023, the feature has been in development since 2022. While YouTube hasn’t officially announced a widespread release date, the testing suggests the company is working to enhance user experience by reducing time spent scrolling through content.
The feature represents YouTube’s ongoing efforts to improve content discovery and viewer engagement on its platform, potentially transforming how users interact with the world’s largest video-sharing platform.
