Skip to main content

Shazam on Android no longer needs to hear songs to identify them

Despite the fact that Apple completed its acquisition of music-ID app Shazam last year, the coolest new Shazam feature is, for now, an Android exclusive. Pop-Up for Shazam can detect songs being played on a device without having to use the microphone. Instead, it effectively digitally eavesdrops on other apps that are running and acquires the signal it needs to identify songs directly. The big benefit to this capability is that you can now leave your headphones on, while Shazam runs in the background, doing its thing.

In the past, on both iOS and Android devices, Shazam users have needed to yank an earbud out and position it close to the microphone or disconnect their headphones entirely to let the music escape through their device’s built-in speaker. Android users can elect to keep Shazam in permanent listening mode — similar to iOS’ “always on” feature — but that listening can now be direct from app to app, as well as via the device’s mic.

The feature can be used in two different ways. While using an app that supports background listening, like Spotify, you can switch over to Shazam and it will detect what Spotify is playing even with headphones on. However, not all apps keep playing when you switch, so you’ll need to enable Pop-Up Shazam in Shazam’s settings, and then activate it from the Android pull-down menu. Doing this surfaces a Shazam icon, which floats above your apps, ready to be tapped whenever you want to ID a song.

Recommended Videos

In our brief testing, it worked on Spotify, YouTube Music, and the main YouTube app itself. As with the regular Shazam interface, songs were recognized after only a handful of notes.

We initially questioned the value of having Shazam identify songs that were playing on our device; after all, if you can look at the app that’s playing the music, it’s probably displaying the track information already. Do you really need Shazam to confirm what you already know? But there are two good reasons for using it: First, Shazam will keep track of all the songs you ID, effectively building a kind of cross-app Last.fm-style scrobble. Second, the pop-up icon will start to spit out song lyrics after it IDs the track, giving you lyrics access from all of your apps whether they have this feature or not. Amusingly, Shazam’s lyrics kept on rolling even after we hit pause on the song that triggered it.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

It’s unknown when or if pop-up Shazam will make it to iOS. The Android implementation relies on that operating system’s ability to grant one app access to another app’s data, something that iOS places heavier restrictions on.

Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
The 8 best TVs for gaming in 2025, as vetted by our experts
LG G4 OLED

There are lots of excellent TVs out there that are just fine for watching cable or streaming Netflix. But if your screen needs are a bit more video-game-inspired, it’s in your best interest to invest in a TV that’s tailor-made for gaming. While this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll need to spend an arm and a leg for a TV that plays nicely with your Xbox or PlayStation, there are a few essentials you should be on the lookout for, especially when it comes to HDR performance, input lag, and response times. 

While noteworthy TV brands like Samsung, Sony, and LG all produce TVs that are designed to handle all your console and PC gaming needs, brands like Hisense and TCL offer a couple of more budget-friendly offerings, too. Our TV experts spent more than 200 hours testing TVs this year, giving us the expertise we need to put together this roundup of all the best gaming TVs you can buy. Here are some of our recommendations.

Read more
You Asked: Why are Costco TV models different? 8K Content vs. 4K
You Asked promotional image with the text: Costco TVs Different?

On today’s episode of You Asked: Why do TVs at Costco and other stores have different model numbers than everyone else? Is it time to upgrade your OLED TV or do you just have FOMO? Should you spend more money on a disc player for superior upscaling? And does 8K content actually look better than 4K content?
Different model numbers, same TVs?

Joshua and Jim both wrote to ask how Costco is selling a 98-inch TCL Q672G for about $1500, noting that the deal comes with Costco’s extended warranty and a $100 gift card as a bonus, sweetening the deal. They wondered why the model number seems to be exclusive to Costco and whether the TV is the same as the Q651G, which sells for the same price at other retailers.

Read more
Get the LG 83-inch B4 Series OLED while it has a $2,000 discount
The LG B4 Series OLED 4K TV on a white background.

LG has been producing OLED TVs since 2014, a successful venture that’s led to numerous Best of the Year awards for the manufacturer. If you’ve never owned an LG OLED, let’s just say it’s hard to beat the rich colors and inky black levels these sets can achieve. They are available in numerous models and sizes, and we actually came across a great sale on one of LG’s biggest entry-level OLED TVs for 2024:

Right now, when you purchase the LG 83-inch B4 Series OLED through Amazon, Best Buy, LG, and a handful of other retailers, you’ll only pay $2,500. The full MSRP on this model is $4,500.

Read more