Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. Music
  4. Legacy Archives

Shazam: iOS update brings Pulse discovery feature, new-look tab bar and more

Add as a preferred source on Google

shazamThe folks behind Shazam, the clever music ID app that helps you discover what that catchy tune is, on Monday rolled out another update – albeit a modest one – to its iOS offering.

Possibly of most interest will be Shazam Pulse, a new music-discovery feature that enables you to find new tunes by exploring the music being tagged by other users of the app in real-time.

Recommended Videos

Version 6.1 for iPhone also introduces a new-look tab bar bringing Settings to the top left of the home screen. The bar will also show a notification when a Friend tags, and chart updates will be indicated too.

iPad users can now expect improved stability in the Friends feed, and can now more easily delete tags from Favorites (tap edit then select tags).

The update follows in the footsteps of some more significant changes to the app in recent months, which saw the rollout of a universal iPad/iPhone version, bringing with it, for example, a new discovery home screen, a revamped layout for tag results, a new way to see what others have been watching and listening to, and a new auto-tagging feature.

London-based Shazam, which launched in 1999, announced in February that the service’s user base had hit the 300-million mark.

Available across multiple platforms, Shazam is a free ad-supported app, though users can do away with them by switching to Shazam Encore for $6.99.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
The best free VPNs for 2026
The best free VPNs still come with compromises, but a few offer enough privacy and flexibility to be genuinely useful.
Proton VPN UI

A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a server run by the VPN provider. Websites see the VPN server’s IP address instead of yours, and you can get around geo-blocks, censorship, and ISP throttling. The best VPN services are paid, but there are still a handful of free options that do the job well. 

Most free VPNs come with a hidden cost, because running servers isn’t cheap and a company that doesn’t charge you has to make its money somewhere else. Many do so by logging your browsing activity and selling it to advertisers, while others flood you with ads and track you across apps. 

Read more
The best Kindle in 2026: Here are the top Kindles for reading
From a pocket-friendly e-reader to a premium color notebook, Amazon has a Kindle for almost every kind of reader.
kindle colorsoft back converted

There's nothing quite like curling up with a good book on a cold evening. As much as I love the feel of a physical book, books take up a lot of space, and carrying more than one on a trip quickly becomes a chore. That's where e-readers come in, and the Amazon Kindle remains one of the best options.

Amazon just refreshed its Kindle lineup with thinner, lighter designs, a new flush-front display, and colors that wrap from front to back. Add the Kindle Scribe and the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft to the mix, and you have more choices than ever before.

Read more
The best Android apps in 2026: I spent months testing dozens that truly earn their keep
From smarter task management to custom home screens, these 20 apps give you good reasons to install something new on your Android phone
Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

A good Android app should earn its place on your phone. It might make an everyday task easier, handle something the built-in software can't, or let you change an experience that never quite worked for you.

These 20 apps cover everything from quick notes and password management to automation and local file sharing. Some are free, others charge for advanced features, and a few take some effort to figure out. The point isn't to install them all. It's to find the ones that make your phone work better for you.

Read more