Spotify is giving Shuffle a tune-up, hopefully making playlists feel a little fresher in the process.
The big change is a feature called Fewer Repeats that pays attention to what you have heard recently and lowers the chance of those songs popping up again too soon. You’ll definitely appreciate this if you listen for hours at a time.
Spotify itself says Premium listeners can now turn off Smart Shuffle when they want a plain shuffle experience. Both Free and Premium users can tap any song while shuffling to queue it up next without reshuffling everything, which makes it easier to steer the vibe without blowing up the order.
If you prefer the traditional method of shuffling, Premium users can switch back to Standard Shuffle in Settings under Playback and choose between Fewer Repeats and Standard.
The company gently reminds people that more randomness can sometimes mean the same songs surface more often, which is why the new default exists. Fewer Repeats tries to keep variety up while still feeling random enough for long playlists.
The update also fits into a bigger push to give you more say in what you hear. This year Spotify added small controls like excluding specific songs from your Taste Profile and a Snooze feature when you need a break from certain tracks.
Also, refresh tools for Discover Weekly make it easier to dive deeper into genres you are exploring. Together with the Shuffle changes, these tweaks by Spotify show it’s trying to make a music service that gives users a little more control than they’ve had before.
To try the new behaviour, leave Shuffle on as usual and see whether repeats start to drop off over a few sessions.
Spotify has also announced a new audiobook recap feature that’ll give you a brief overview of what you’re listening to before you get going again.
