"What should I watch?" suggestions come to Sky Q voice search

"What should I watch?" Suggestions come to Sky Q voice search
(Image credit: Sky)

Sky Q's voice control feature can now give you suggestions of what to watch. Just hold down the microphone button and say "What should I watch?" and it will offer suggestions based on your viewing history. It's hoped it will help you find something even if you have no idea what to watch.

It's similar to Netflix's Shuffle Play, a feature the video streaming service has been testing since the end of last year. Shuffle Play will roll out globally in the first half of 2021, Netflix announced recently.

Sky's suggestions, though, have wider scope, and will include shows and films from Sky, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and the BBC, depending on your subscriptions.

The suggestions page will be broken up into categories including "Because you watched", and "New series for you". Each will be personalised based on your viewing history. It will also show the top 10 shows on Sky for the week.

Sky has also added other commands for voice search: "Get ready for 2021" and "Sky unmissable". Saying either will trigger first-look trailers of the new series coming to Sky this year.

As ever, the real test of a feature such as this will be in how good the algorithm is. If it consistently serves up suggestions that don't tickle your fancy, it will likely sit unused. But if it hits the mark even some of the time, it could save many an hour's endless scrolling for something watch.

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