“Only took 10 years”: Spotify adds new “fewer repeats” shuffle after years of user complaints
Spotify’s announcement of a new “fewer repeats” shuffle feature has users celebrating—and joking that the company finally admitted its old shuffle was never truly random.
Many Spotify users celebrating the change are those who expressed feelings of being "gaslighted" by the original shuffle feature. So what gives?
What is Spotify's "fewer repeats" shuffle feature?
According to a press release on Nov. 13, Spotify announced a new feature that will change the default shuffle setting.
Under the old shuffle logic, every song in a playlist had an equal chance of playing next, which often meant listeners heard the same tracks multiple times in close succession.
With the new approach, Spotify will remember what listeners recently played and avoid repeating those songs too soon.
"We’ve also updated our default Shuffle so you’ll get Fewer Repeats when you listen. This version takes your recent listening into account, so songs you heard recently are less likely to repeat soon, helping your playlists stay fresh and surprising," the release reads.
Premium users now have the option to toggle the fewer repeats feature on or off in the app's settings.
How did users react to the shuffle change?
On social media, Spotify users joked that the update confirmed what they’ve suspected for years: that the company’s shuffle wasn’t really shuffling.
"So Spotify finally admits their 'shuffle' just plays the same 30 tracks. And if you restart it, there’s no memory, so you get the same songs preferred again," X user @ChuckReynolds writes.
"[Expletive] finally, actually, because recently Spotify has been playing my playlists in the exact same shuffle order as the previous day, and I’m going insane," a second post reads.
"Only took 10 dang years for Spotify to admit their shuffle was AWFUL," a third remarks.
Another says they felt Spotify was "gaslighting" them prior to the update.
"I KNEW IT, EVEN SPOTIFY WAS GASLIGHTING ME WITH SHUFFLE NOT BEING RANDOM," @shimonips exclaims.
"The Spotify shuffle conspiracy theorists were right, it was actually just playing the same 30 songs over and over," X poster @turnthenotison jokes.
Others couldn't help but joke about the whole ordeal — here's an assortment from X:
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