Spotify updates shuffle to prioritize variety over strict randomness

Spotify shuffle complaints have been ongoing for some time, and the company is finally making a significant change to how it works. Realizing that users might actually want something that falls between playing every track in order and hearing the same song three times in half an hour, the default shuffle mode is being updated to avoid short-term repeats. That means you’ll be less likely to hear the same tracks popping up again and again.

According to Spotify’s newsroom announcement, this new behaviour — called Fewer repeats — is now the default for all accounts. It takes your recent listening into account and tries to keep things feeling “fresh,” rather than relying on the old, fully random shuffle logic. We spotted signs of this change coming back in September during an APK teardown of the app, where the strings for both shuffle algorithms first appeared.

The core idea hasn’t changed, as shuffle still randomizes your playlist. What’s new is the weighting. Spotify generates multiple shuffle orders behind the scenes before picking the one it thinks offers the best variety. The result is that songs you’ve heard recently are less likely to show up again straight away,

If you’re a Premium user and you prefer the chaos of a purely random shuffle, you don’t have to stick with this change. You have the option to choose between the updated Fewer repeats mode and Standard, which restores the old random behaviour. Head to Settings > Playback and toggle “Fewer repeats” back to “Standard” to reinstate the chaotic algorithm.

Some Reddit users are already spotting the new toggle in the Playback menu, while others say they haven’t received it yet. For the avoidance of confusion, none of this affects Smart Shuffle, which is the separate mode that injects recommended tracks into your playlist.