Have you ever been so excited about a TV show that you fell asleep in the middle of the episode? The last thing you want is for the show to continue playing indefinitely, potentially exposing you to spoilers as soon as you wake up and resume the show later (yes, this has happened to me before, and it sucks).
Worry no more: Netflix is testing a timer feature on Android that will allow you to pause a program after a certain time. As reported by Verge – Netflix has confirmed the feature for publication – the timer function allows you to choose to stop playback after 15, 30 or 45 minutes – or until the end of your current episode. The feature can be accessed from a stopwatch button in the upper right corner of the video playback.
This seems to be a useful resource for people who like to fall asleep watching a TV program in the background. While this is not something I do regularly with Netflix, I often sleep while listening to audiobooks and I think the ability to set a sleep timer is a godsend.
The test is currently limited to a few users globally on Android, but if popular enough, Netflix will likely take it to TVs and other devices. That said, there is no information on when we will see a broader implementation yet.
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Published January 30, 2021 – 01:46 UTC