Summary
- YouTube’s new “Play Something” button displays random videos based on your preferences.
- The feature appears in the bottom right corner of the Android app UI.
- The new button is currently in version 19.5 but does not appear to be widely available yet.
YouTube has always been a good way to kill a few minutes, and a new test aims to make the app even better for that. As reported 9to5GoogleThe YouTube app for Android shows a new button called “Play Something”, which plays a random video based on your learned content preferences. It’s similar to an experience from about a year ago, but the UI and features are a bit different.
As 9to5 explains, the new play something The button appears in the lower right corner of the YouTube Android app UI. Pressing the button will obviously start playing a random YouTube short related to your preferences, but as 9to5 explains, after starting a Shorts video with the new button, subsequent videos won’t necessarily be Shorts footage. It does not yet appear to be deployed on a large scale; I don’t see it on my own device. The screenshots shared by 9to5 are from Brazil, so if you’re reading there, check your YouTube app.
The new button works much like a similar experiment from last year, which inserted a button labeled “Play Something” into your home screen feed. The new version appears to be a persistent element in the UI, rather than something you can scroll through.
Available for some in YouTube version 19.5
9to5 reports that the new button appears in the YouTube Android app in version 19.5. That said, I’m using this version and I don’t see the new button, so it’s clearly not available to everyone yet. It would make sense if that were the case, though; a button that plays a random video reduces friction when opening the app and starting certain content to virtually zero.
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Thank you: Moshe
