Because of the enormous amount of content on Netflix, it’s not uncommon to start and leave a TV show or movie unfinished. Netflix hasn’t offered the option to remove the unwanted show from your “Continue Watching” list that appears at the top of the screen in the TV app for a long time. But now you have the chance to edit this list on your TV.
The streaming giant has introduced an option to remove TV shows and movies from the Continue Watching queue on Netflix-compatible TVs. Previously, this option was only available on Web and mobile devices.
Now when you select a program from the list, you will see the “Remove From This Line” option to remove the program from the list. If you do not find and start watching the program again, the program will be removed from the list immediately.
While the ever-present Continue Watching list is likely to be irritating to a significant portion of Netflix’s 222 million subscribers, the change seems to have basically been triggered by someone.
In its blog post about the feature update, Netflix linked to a Tweet from Twitter user @RACS040 (or “Oscar”) requesting a “Remove” option so that content “A) We’re already watching or B) we don’t intend to watch” can be removed: “O your time algorithms can make better recommendations.”
While this change is sure to be welcomed, the question remains why Netflix didn’t offer fuller customization. There is no such control over what happens in the “Watch Again” line or the “Best Picks for [You]” line. This level of control will bring Netflix one step closer to true customization.
At the very least, this new option could make the algorithm smarter about your likes and dislikes, as “Oscar” points out…