Netflix may be on the cutting edge of streaming services, but it’s taking an idea from your old CRT TV: the streaming service announced today that it’s testing a sleep timer for its Android app.
The new feature can be set to stop playing after four set intervals of time (15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes or at the end of your current show or movie), which helps save your spot in the show and save the battery life of your phone.
To turn it on, users will see a new clock icon in the top right-hand section of the screen that will display the four timer options, all of which can be snoozed if you’re still awake at the end of your chosen sleep timer interval.
For now, the feature will be limited to adult profiles on Android devices, but Netflix says that it’s considering rolling the feature out to more platforms, including TV sets and desktops, depending on how users feel about the feature after testing it. It’s unclear when, or if, the same feature may come to iOS or Mac devices, as Netflix didn’t share plans for expanding it to Apple products.
Don’t snooze on this sleep timer
While Netflix is constantly tweaking the delivery mechanism of its service, it’s rare that it adds new user-facing features. That said, it did just confirm that its shuffle play feature is also finally launching this year.
The latter feature was described by Netflix’s COO and chief product officer Greg Peters as a way for users to indicate that they just want to skip browsing entirely, click one button, and let Netflix pick a title for them just to instantly play.
Netflix didn’t give an exact launch date for shuffle play, but users should start seeing the sleep timer appear on Android devices in the near future.
Via The Verge