Can't decide what to watch on YouTube? New 'Play Something' button can help

Ever had a moment where you want to watch a video but can't decide on any particular one? To combat this problem, YouTube is currently testing a new 'Play Something' button on its Android app. 

It was first spotted by 9to5Google, which mentioned that it's a floating button present just above the bottom bar of the app, and when tapped, it picks a YouTube video to play for you. Think of it like Google Search's 'I'm feeling lucky' feature.

This isn't the first time that users have spotted this floating action button on the YouTube app. Earlier in 2023, a Reddit user spotted a similar banner on the YouTube app.

This feature has been in beta testing for a while, and even now, it doesn't look like YouTube is fully sure about releasing it to all users. Reportedly, it still works the same way as it did earlier: tap the floating button and it uses the YouTube Shorts player to show you videos. It doesn't matter if the video you're being shown is actually a vertical Shorts video or a standard horizontal YouTube video. Should this feature be rolled out to all users, YouTube ideally will iron out these kinks upon release.

YouTube isn't the first video streaming platform to have a 'Play something' button. Streaming service Netflix also had a similar feature called 'Surprise me', which picked out a random show or movie for users. However, Netflix quietly discontinued this button and removed it in 2023 without any prior notice. Later, a Netflix spokesperson revealed that the button wasn't adding any value, as Netflix believed its customers already knew what to watch when they wanted to the platform.