Spotify updates shuffle to prioritize variety over strict randomness

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Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority


TL;DR

• Spotify has updated its default shuffle to a new “Fewer repeats” algorithm that avoids playing recently heard songs.
• Premium users can stick with this new mode or switch back to the completely random shuffle algorithm.
• The change doesn’t impact Smart Shuffle functionality.

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.




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