YouTube is testing a pop-up “Play Something” button that will play a random video for you. As spotted by 9to5Google, the new feature is exclusive to the popular video site’s Android app for now, and isn’t showing up for everyone.
It’s not the first time YouTube has tried a play something feature, and Netflix aficionados might remember seeing a similar button at some point in the past. But unlike the Play Something banners and buttons of past tests, this button displays over your feed (so be careful where you click) rather than as a tile embedded into it.
Clicking it will take you to a random video chosen by the YouTube algorithm, shown in the same vertical player used by YouTube Shorts. Weirdly, these videos can include either Shorts or longer content, but both use the Shorts player—standard YouTube videos will just have large black bars at the top and bottom.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there’s any way to use Play Something as a kind of shuffle feature, as the app reverts to the usual Shorts player controls once you click the new button, meaning you can only use it to play one video at a time. That said, once you’re in the Shorts player, you can just swipe up to load a new random Short (although longer videos won’t show up this way).
Sadly, 9to5Google doesn’t mention any way to dismiss the new button short of playing a video, so if you see it, you’re just kind of stuck with it on your screen until you actually start watching something. That’s a bit annoying, since the site’s screenshots show the button obscuring thumbnails and video titles.
It’s possible the button is an attempt to encourage users looking for TikTok alternatives to start trying out the Shorts interface—a smart move given the upcoming deadline for the potential TikTok ban.
