Many smartphone users find Shazam a cool app. Most of them identify songs by using Shazam. For starters, Shazam is an Apple-owned application that helps you to identify songs whose names escape you. The fact that it can identify songs and find lyrics for these songs by listening to the audio is enough to make it a useful app.
As cool as it is, Shazam has always had a blind spot. The app’s inability to hear music playing through your phone’s headphones is a major drawback. To identify a song, it will have to hear it. So, users must find a way to direct music to their handset’s microphone or play it through internal speakers. But that is now past.
Introducing Pop-Up Shazam
The much-adored music identification application released a major update that will address this annoyance. Acquired by Apple in 2018, the company introduced a new feature called ‘Pop-up Shazam’ for the Android version of the app. Shazam can now identify songs through your headphones on Android without actually hearing it.
Even if you ignore everything else, here are three things you need to know about Pop Up Shazam:
- The new addition means that songs played through headphones can be identified by Shazam.
- There is also a new addition in the form of a floating button that recognizes music without having to open the Shazam app.
- The pop-up Shazam feature is available only on Android phones.
What Does the New Feature Mean to Users?
The fact that Shazam for Android recognizes music playing through headphones has come as a relief to many smartphone users. It is a feature that they have requested for years. Unlike before, there is no need to point sound, coming through your headphones, at your microphone. Even better, the app can identify songs played in another app.
The pop-up button gives you much freedom to identify sounds in some apps that restrict background playback, such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Basically, you don’t have to disturb anyone while trying to identify a particular song.
Early users have found the feature to be working surprisingly well, especially if the sound quality is good enough. Since Shazam’s new update is most likely to be using the same matching algorithms as most listening features, you should expect its performance to be pretty much the same as regular use.
Pop Up Shazam Is Not Available for iOS
It appears that Android users running version 9.33 and above are the only ones who can identify songs by using Shazam’s new feature. Annoyingly, the Pop Up Shazam is not available for iOS users. Not a big deal, but is interesting that the feature came to Android yet Apple owns Shazam. This scenario perhaps tells how strict Apple runs and maintains its apps.
Generally, iOS discourages apps from running in the background when others are active in the foreground. Pop Up Shazam relies heavily on permissions that Apple’s mobile operating system currently doesn’t support, thus handling Android an exclusive. For now, we don’t expect the status quo to change anytime soon.
How to Activate the New Pop-Up Feature?
The pop-up feature is not active by default, so you need to turn it on. To enable the pop-up Shazam feature, use the Settings menu. With the feature activated, you will see a floating Shazam button on your phone’s screen. If you are not happy with the feature, you can remove it by dragging the floating button to the bottom of your screen.
Is Shazam the Best Sound Recognition App?
While not degrading its value, Shazam isn’t the only app that can identify music by hearing them. Moreover, the pop-up feature may not be particularly useful to users of Spotify and other apps that display the song currently playing. But if you want to know a song used in an advertisement, for instance, then the feature will work a treat.
Meanwhile, Google has also taken a shot at sound recognition. In recent years, the tech giant added a ‘Now Playing’ feature to its Pixel 3 series handsets. With this feature enabled, the smartphone will actively capture the songs that are playing in the surrounding, then identify them and keeps a log. The ‘Now Playing’ feature works just like Pop Up Shazam. The only notable difference is that the latter works via a notification shade toggle.
Wrap-Up
Shazam is one of the best and quickest ways to find the name and lyrics of the song you are currently listening. With the latest feature addition, the app will be even more valuable to users.
Now that songs played through headphones can be identified by Shazam, there is a better reason to keep your Android phone in good condition. This way, you will enjoy the full benefits of the new update. Therefore, you need to scan for and remove junk on your device. You can use a free intuitive tool like Android cleaning app to clean and speed up your phone, extend its battery life, and protect your personal information.