- Disney+ has rolled out a new Playlists feature
- The feature groups movies and series by genres, franchises, characters, or moods, providing a continuous, ‘lean-back’ viewing experience
- You can also pause, rewind, and skip to the next title
Disney+ just rolled out a feature that could help put an end to incessantly browsing for a movie or TV show to watch — and it’s made one of the best streaming services even better.
The new Playlists feature, which has rolled out to Disney+ subscribers globally, is a collection of titles grouped by a specific genre, franchise, character, or mood. It’s designed to give you an even more relaxed way to browse for movies and shows, allowing you to — as Disney puts it — enjoy a “lean-back viewing experience”. So, if you’re after an action blockbuster or can’t decide on which Pixar movie to reminisce in, Playlists have your back.
I know what you’re thinking, ‘Disney+ already has themed Collections’ — and you’re right, it certainly does. But these new Playlists have a more of an edge over those standard Collections.
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While Collections are mini hubs that group titles around a character, franchise, or theme, Playlists builds on this by offering a continuous viewing experience with playback controls to ensure you’re still the boss. For example, if you’re feeling a comedy movie, hit ‘Play’ on the ‘Comedy Movies’ playlist and a title will start playing at random — removing the time you would’ve spent searching individual categories.
That said, it doesn’t mean you’ll be forced to watch the first movie the playlist decides to show. Each playlist has its own controls allowing you to pause, rewind, and skip to the next title in the sequence. Additionally, Disney says that seasonal Playlists will become available throughout the year, so expect to see Halloween- and festive-themed collections.
However, Playlists aren’t just about moods, there’s already a fair few collections dedicated to TV shows, including Modern Family, The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, and my personal favorite, Family Guy. Essentially, these Playlists are like non-stop, 24-hour live channels dedicated to individual shows, except you have more freedom to skip.
I have severe indecisiveness issues just as much as the next person, and though I’m subscribed to Disney+, it’s definitely not my most-used streaming service — and that’s largely due to how its search hub is designed. I was one click away from canceling, but Playlists could be the one feature that makes me stick around for a bit longer.
I’ve been playing around with Playlists just to get a feel for it, and from what I’ve seen so far, I’m quite impressed, especially with the TV show-themed ones. Hitting ‘Play’ on the Family Guy playlist starts a continuous run of random episodes, and you don’t have to do anything as much as lift the remote to stream an episode after another finishes — it’s literally my dream feature.
Disney+ could really be onto something here, and I hope that as time passes more themed Playlists are added (please, just give me the Glee and Desperate Housewives Playlists I’m urgently yearning for).
But Disney+ can’t get all the credit. Netflix released a similar feature years ago called Play Something, which was basically a shuffle feature that played a random movie or TV episode when you couldn’t decide on what to watch. However, low user engagement resulted in its short lifespan.
On paper it was a solid idea, but I think one of the reasons why it didn’t last very long was because Play Something didn’t divide titles into categories, and you got what you were given. Whereas with Disney+, narrowing down titles by genre, show, and character at least gives you some kind of a starting point.
I think Disney already has the edge over Netflix for this very reason, and there are plenty of choices at hand. I just hope that Disney+ continues to invest in this tool so it doesn’t join Play Something in the graveyard of streaming features.
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