Implement an actual shuffle function

[RoninTheOrigina]

Yes, you read that right.  The "shuffle" function in Spotify is nothing more than a randomizer.  There's a difference?  YES.

RANDOM - Play one song.  The next song can be ANY song in your playlist.  Including the one you just listened to.  Though I've never had this specifically happen, I literally just heard the same song that I heard 2 songs ago.  This is how Spotify's "shuffle" currently functions.

SHUFFLE - Take your entire list, shuffle them (like cards), and play the first song in the shuffle.  Once finished, move that song off the pile.  Once the pile is depleted, shuffle the deck again and start over (maybe pop a message up).

I know enough about programming (not much) to know that shuffling is probably a bit harder than random, but come on.  I may be in the minority, but I don't have a lot of little playlists.  I have one list with nearly a thousand songs in it, because I like all the music, and am rarely not in the mood for one of those songs.  But what I can't stand is hearing the same song over and over again.  I think there may even be songs in my list I haven't heard yet, while I've heard others 4-5 times.

I know it may not matter much, but I would probably lay down the money for at least a year subscription if this feature was implemented.

EDIT: Another user pointed out that I can see what all is queued up in my shuffle by clicking the Play Queue link, and that Spotify supposedly sets up a rolling shuffle of 50 songs.  It would be nice if this range could be expanded to say 50-100% of your playlist.

EDIT 4/6/12: I just dealt with the same song 16 tracks later.  The song played the first time yesterday afternoon.  I went home, listened for a bit on my home PC (just a few songs), then started listening again this morning.  If the list recycles itself after a day, or if you log in from another computer, I see that as an area for improvement.

[hesicaba5690]

When you are applying random mode? do not want the same music is repeated the next day or 4 times the same day...

[Tobraham]

Thanks for testing!

Hmmmmmm, that's an odd one. Once it selects a song, it deletes it
completely from the database so it would be impossible to reselect one.
And same order? Also impossible based on the algorithm. Did any errors
happen while attempting to build a playlist that caused you to have to
go back and try again? If it doesn't make it to the end of the script it
can't delete the original database it created for you, so there's a
chance it may not have been able to clear the database of songs.

[Tobraham]

Hey there! So you'd like a 16-hour option as well? I could do that in a
snap with one line of code.

I am also working on a "Nuclear" option. Instead of setting a time
frame, it counts the number of songs in your list and builds a fresh
list using all of the songs to make you a completely new playlist.

[Tobraham]

The application does not store information from your previous usage. So
every time you use it to build a new playlist, it starts from scratch.
I'd still venture to say that using it once a day would still provide
you better results than Spotify's current random algorithm.

That being said, if this takes off, I would consider writing a stronger
version with a database that could store all user activity so that the
song selection is persistent over days and weeks. That will take a
better server with more storage capacity than my personal will allow
right now, so I may have to sell a $1 app or something to fund it down
the road.

[agl89xs20]

@Tobraham, a Nuclear playlist would literally be the best thing ever. I'll send you a crate of beer if you do that, haha!

If its something you can do, I'm happy to run it as a tester for you?

[Tobraham]

Try my Shuffle Fly.

Www.RioGrandeMud.com/shufflefly

[Coolin82]

Is there anywway to have shufflefly work when shufflling the whole library of songs and not just playlists? Also could you make this do a better job when turning playlists into radio?

[Tobraham]

". Coolin82 (Festival Fanatic) posted a new comment in Implemented Ideas on 2016-04-13 12:12 AM:
> Re: Implement an actual shuffle function
>
> Is there anywway to have shufflefly work when shufflling the whole library of songs and not just playlists? Also could you make this do a better job when turning playlists into radio?I'm working on having it do your entire list library. "


As for radio, I'm not sure there's a way to write your own app that impacts Spotify's radio but I'll look into it.

[agl89xs20]

@Tobraham I'm keen to try out the Nuclear function if this is something you are able to do - can you let me know how its getting on, I'm more than happy to test it for you if required. Thanks!

[rednblu]

I continued this very useful discussion in >> a fully-functional forum << with adequate *Edit capability-- There I give a working example of how I produce a Spotify "Radio" that has zero repeats in any six-month period.

In addition at that link, there are instructions for playing my Non-repeating Spotify "Radio" for this month-- Of course, that Non-repeating Spotify "Radio" reflects only my musical desires by containing only tracks from "All of Spotify" that I have not DownThumbed.