Did Spotify Finally Fix Its Endlessly Broken Shuffle?
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Spotify users are reporting that the shuffle feature on the Liked Songs playlists has possibly been fixed.
- Many users are experiencing truly random shuffling, including older songs.
- To experience better shuffling on Spotify, ensure you have turned off recommendation-based features such as Smart Shuffle.
Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming platforms worldwide, but it’s far from perfect. One of the most common complaints from Spotify users is that the shuffle feature feels broken. Not anymore, though, as Spotify may have finally figured out the solution for the shuffle that didn’t shuffle enough.
Many people, including me, add all of our favorite music to the Liked Songs playlist and play it on shuffle. This playlist eventually grows to hundreds and thousands of songs over the years. Despite the selection depth available, it always feels to me that Spotify keeps repeating from a narrow selection of newer songs within the giant playlist. Starting the playlist at random old songs only “fixes” the problem for a short while, and Spotify eventually goes back to fixating on newer liked songs.
Reddit user thewillb noticed that Spotify seems to have fixed the issue of inadequate shuffling on the Liked Songs playlist. According to the user, Spotify has successfully played really old songs in the past two days. Several other users have also affirmed the same in the Reddit thread, but many others are unconvinced too. I’ve experimented with this today for half an hour so far, and as per my anecdotal experience, Spotify played about five songs that I hadn’t listened to in years.
Note that you need to turn off features like Smart Shuffle to get a better, random shuffling experience. Otherwise, Spotify starts looping through recent recommendations after a while.
Has Spotify’s shuffle feature improved for you in the past few days?
2 votes
How has your experience with Spotify Shuffle been in the past and in recent days? Do you find it reliably shuffling without a recency bias? Or is it still stuck to the same few songs? Try it out today, and let us know in the comments below!
Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at [email protected]. You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it’s your choice.
