Netflix is adding speed controls to its Android app, making it possible to play content at faster or slower rates depending on your taste. 

As you can already do on YouTube, it'll soon be possible to adjust playback rates of video on Netflix, slowing down to 0.75x or 0.5x or upping to 1.25x and 1.5x speed. 

This will be welcomed by those in a hurry to binge-watch a good show and catch up with friends who have already worked their way through a popular Netflix show. 

The move has been in the works for a while but has been criticised by the creators as it detracts from the original format and how it was intended to be watched. 

The idea of speed controls is nothing new, even older DVD players had this option as standard. In a society where there's so much content to digest it's surprising we've not seen it on Netflix sooner. 

If you're worried about the effect the change will have, you'll be pleased to hear that Netflix has designed this new feature to automatically adjust the pitch of videos too so the experience isn't negatively impacted. 

Hopefully, the end result will be good enough that you no longer have to put up with spoilers online or friends ruining storylines for you.

The added bonus is the speed changes will help those who are trying to keep up with closed captions too, as they'll be slowed down along with the video. Deaf Netflix users may well appreciate this option in future. 

The speed change options are in the process of rolling out globally to everyone on Android, with iOS and web versions being tested currently for future release.