Netflix detects when you’re asleep and pauses your video for you with new hack

A group of Netflix engineers have come up with a handy hack that ensures you won’t miss a minute of your favorite show should you doze off mid-episode. It uses a Fitbit activity tracker to communicate when a viewer has fallen asleep, pausing the programming at that point. It’s an incredibly simple solution to an incredibly common occurrence. Instead of having the show carry on with the possibility of waking you up, the feature means you don’t have to try and remember / skip to the exact moment you left off. Pretty clever, eh? Although hacks like this and others are pretty cool, it’s worth pointing out that they may never become part of the Netflix offering. As outlined in a statement on the matter, the company is only sharing them publicly to showcase the spirit of Netflix Hack Day.