Shazam, which Apple acquired five years ago, is reborn as a better service as new features are added bit by bit. It still supports Apple Music, as well as other services like Spotify and Deezer, and has a great Android app. But the most impressive change is the way it improves as part of the Apple ecosystem.
ⓒ Foundry
First, Apple added Shazam to Siri. When a user asks Siri, “What’s this song?”, Shazam returns the search results via backend technology. iPhones with Dynamic Island also provide animations for listening and search results.
A particularly useful feature has been added in the latest Shazam update. It is a lock screen widget. There are two versions, a large and a small version, and tapping the widget takes you directly to the Shazam app, which identifies the song playing in your current location. The smaller widget displays only the Shazam logo, while the larger widget also displays the last search results.
When it comes to song search, speed and ease of use are important. This is because the song may no longer play after going through several steps. Being able to find a song without unlocking your iPhone, opening Control Center, or asking Siri (which may not be possible in some circumstances) is a small quality-of-life enhancement.
Shazam 15.38, which includes lock screen widgets, is available now on the App Store. For instructions on how to add widgets to the lock screen, see ‘How-To: Customize the Lock Screen in iOS 16’.
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