At one time or another, you’ve probably watched Netflix to help you fall asleep or you’ve unintentionally fallen asleep while watching something on the platform. That of course leads to eating up your data and your battery if you were not charging it. The streaming giant seems to be testing a new feature now that will let you set a timer and afterward the specified period, the Netflix app will stop playing. They are testing it now on Android devices but it’s possible they will include desktops and TV sets as well eventually.
The Verge shares that Netflix is already working on this feature and is testing it out now on selected Android devices. Basically, users can choose from four timer settings, depending on how long they think they’ll fall asleep eventually. You can choose between 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or at the end of that episode or movie they’re watching. When the timer runs out, the Netflix app will stop playing.
This way, if you’re watching a TV show, it will not auto-play to the next episode and you’ll be able to save your device’s battery life, not to mention your data consumption. While of course sleep experts say you shouldn’t bring your gadgets to bed, a lot of us probably want to fall asleep to our favorite TV shows or actually not fall asleep coz we’re bingeing. But if you’re the former, then this feature would be best for you.
To activate the timer, play the video you want to watch on the mobile app. You’ll see a clock icon on the upper right which you have to tap and then choose form the 15, 30, 45, or “Finish Show” options. This seems to be available only on adult profiles although the kids profiles should also benefit from this. Well, they shouldn’t fall asleep while watching Netflix but parents can use it to regulate their screentime on the streaming app.
The feature is still being tested now on selected users on Android smartphones and tablets. If all goes well, we should be able to see the feature in a future app update and maybe even on other devices as well.
