Shazam is your go-to tool for quickly identifying music playing around you. Whether you’re curious about the catchy tune in a coffee shop or want to know the name of that song playing in a video, Shazam makes music discovery effortless. This guide will walk you through all the ways you can use Shazam on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro, ensuring you never miss out on finding that “All The Up Song” or any other track that catches your ear.
Using the Shazam App for Music Identification
The Shazam app offers versatile options for identifying songs, whether you prefer manual activation or automatic recognition. It’s even capable of identifying songs playing directly on your device, even when you’re using headphones.
Manually Identify a Song
- Launch the Shazam app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap the Shazam button. This prominent button initiates the song identification process.
Alt text: Shazam app icon on an iPhone home screen, ready to identify music.
You are free to navigate to other apps while Shazam works to identify the song in the background. Once a match is found, Shazam will send you a notification revealing the song details.
Notably, even without an active internet connection, the Shazam app remains functional. It generates a unique digital fingerprint of the audio, which it then attempts to match against its extensive database when an internet connection becomes available.
It’s important to note that songs identified using the Shazam app on a Mac operate differently. These identified tracks are not automatically added to your “My Music” library, synchronized across your devices, or backed up to iCloud. For seamless syncing and backup on a Mac, utilize Shazam Music Recognition in Control Center, as detailed later in this guide.
Automatically Identify Songs with Auto Shazam
For continuous music discovery, Auto Shazam is an invaluable feature. It allows Shazam to automatically identify music playing in your environment without manual intervention.
- Activate Auto Shazam: Press and hold (or double-click on Mac) the Shazam button. You’ll see a visual confirmation that Auto Shazam is enabled.
- Deactivate Auto Shazam: Simply tap (or click on Mac) the Shazam button again. This will stop the automatic song recognition.
- Automatic Listening on App Launch: To have Shazam start listening as soon as you open the app on iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, navigate to “My Music” at the bottom of the screen, tap the Settings button (gear icon), and enable “Shazam on app start.”
Songs identified using Auto Shazam on iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro are conveniently grouped by date within the “My Music” section, making it easy to review your automatically discovered tracks.
Accessing Your Shazam Discovery History
Shazam keeps a record of all the songs you’ve identified, making it easy to revisit your musical discoveries.
- iPhone or iPad: Tap “My Music” located at the bottom of the app screen. To remove a song from your list, tap the “More” button (three dots) next to the song and select “Remove from My Music.”
Alt text: The “More” icon (three dots) in the Shazam app, used to access options for identified songs.
- Apple Watch: Recently identified songs are displayed directly below the Shazam button on the watch app and are also saved to “My Music” on your paired iPhone.
- Mac: Recent songs are listed below the Shazam button within the Shazam app interface.
Utilizing Shazam Music Recognition in Control Center
For quick and system-wide music identification, adding Shazam Music Recognition to Control Center is highly recommended. This integration allows you to identify songs playing on your device, even when using headphones, directly from Control Center on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
A significant advantage of using Shazam Music Recognition in Control Center, especially when paired with the Shazam app on iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, is seamless integration:
- Synchronization with Shazam App: Songs identified via Control Center are automatically added to “My Music” in the Shazam app.
- Unified History: Your Shazam history is consistent across all your devices through the History view in Control Center Shazam.
- iCloud Backup: All identified songs are securely backed up to iCloud, ensuring your music discoveries are safe and accessible.
Adding and Using Shazam Music Recognition on iPhone
- Open Control Center: Access Control Center on your iPhone (swipe down from the top-right corner on newer iPhones, or swipe up from the bottom on older models) or iPad (swipe down from the top-right corner).
- Customize Controls: Tap the “Add Controls” (+) button, usually located at the top of Control Center.
- Add Music Recognition: Scroll down and tap “Recognize Music” to add it to your Control Center.
- Close Control Center: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen (on iPhones with a home button, press the home button) to close Control Center.
- Identify a Song: Open Control Center again and tap the “Recognize Music” button (Shazam icon).
- Access History: To view your identified songs, touch and hold the “Recognize Music” button in Control Center, then tap “History”.
Adding and Using Shazam Music Recognition on Mac
- Open System Settings: Click the Apple menu () in the top-left corner of your screen and choose “System Settings.”
- Navigate to Control Center: In the System Settings window, click on “Control Center” in the sidebar.
- Enable Music Recognition in Control Center: Locate “Music Recognition” in the list and toggle “Show in Control Center” to the on position.
- Optional: Add to Menu Bar: To also add Shazam Music Recognition to your Mac’s menu bar for even quicker access, toggle “Show in Menu Bar” to the on position.
- Identify a Song: Click the Control Center icon in the menu bar (or open Control Center). Then, click the “Music Recognition” button (Shazam icon) and click it again to start identifying the song.
- Access History: Click the “Music Recognition” button in Control Center (or in the menu bar) to view your Shazam history.
For more in-depth information about a identified song or artist, including concert dates, videos, and more, simply click or tap on the song within the History view.
Syncing Shazam with iCloud for Song Backup
To ensure your identified songs are saved across all your Apple devices and securely backed up, syncing Shazam with iCloud is essential. This feature applies to songs identified using the Shazam app, Shazam Music Recognition in Control Center, Siri, or Shortcuts on iPhone, iPad, or Vision Pro.
If you find that iCloud syncing isn’t working as expected, try these troubleshooting steps:
- Update Shazam App: Ensure you have the latest version of the Shazam app installed on your iPhone or iPad. Update it through the App Store if necessary.
- Two-Factor Authentication: Verify that two-factor authentication is set up for your Apple ID. This is a security requirement for iCloud syncing.
- Enable iCloud Sync in Shazam App: Open the Shazam app, swipe up from the main Shazam screen to access “My Music,” tap the Settings button (gear icon), and then tap “iCloud Sync” to ensure it’s turned on.
- Check iCloud Settings for Shazam:
- iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro: Go to “Settings” > “[Your Name]” > “iCloud,” then tap “See All” under “Apps Using iCloud.” Make sure the toggle for Shazam is turned on.
- Mac: Choose Apple menu () > “System Settings,” click “Apple ID,” click “iCloud,” then click “See All” next to “iCloud Drive.” Ensure Shazam is enabled in the list.
- Enable Music Recognition: Confirm that Shazam Music Recognition is also enabled in Control Center on both your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, and Mac.
When iCloud sync is active, your Shazam history benefits from end-to-end encryption, guaranteeing that only you can access it on your trusted devices. Enabling iCloud sync also means your Shazam history will no longer be accessible on Shazam.com.
If you choose not to back up your songs to iCloud, they will still be saved locally on your device. You can enable iCloud backup at any time unless you have restored your device to factory settings or are using a new device.
Remember that songs identified solely with the Shazam app for Mac are not synced across your devices or backed up to iCloud. For cross-device syncing and iCloud backup on a Mac, prioritize using Music Recognition in Control Center instead of the standalone Shazam Mac app.
Using Siri and Alternative Shazam Methods
Beyond the app and Control Center, Siri provides another convenient way to identify songs. Additionally, Shazam offers widgets and Apple Watch integration for added flexibility.
- Siri: On any Apple device (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, Mac, or Apple Vision Pro), simply activate Siri by saying “Hey Siri,” and then ask “What song is this?” or “Identify this song.” Songs identified by Siri will also appear in “My Music” in the Shazam app, the History view in Music Recognition, and will be backed up to iCloud.
- Shazam Widget: On iPhone or iPad, add the Shazam widget to your Today View for one-tap music identification directly from your home screen or Today View.
- Shazam on Apple Watch: Use the dedicated Shazam app on your Apple Watch for on-wrist music discovery.
- Shazam Shortcuts: For advanced users, the “Shazam It” action can be integrated into custom Shortcuts, allowing for automated music recognition workflows.
Purchasing Identified Songs
Once you’ve identified a song with Shazam and want to add it to your music library, purchasing it through the iTunes Store is straightforward.
- Access Purchase Option: In Shazam, tap the “More” button (three dots) next to the song you wish to buy, and then tap “Buy on iTunes.”
- iTunes Store Purchase: You’ll be redirected to the iTunes Store. Tap the price displayed next to the song to initiate the purchase.
- Apple ID Sign-in: Sign in to your Apple ID to finalize the purchase.
- Locate Purchased Music: Your purchased music will be available in the Apple Music app. Open the Apple Music app and tap the “Library” tab to find your new music.
- Download for Offline Listening: To download music for offline playback, tap the “Download” button (cloud icon) next to the song.
If the “Buy on iTunes” button is not visible for a particular song, you can still manually search for and purchase the song by visiting the iTunes Store app directly.
Managing Microphone Permissions for Shazam
Shazam relies on microphone access to listen to and identify music. To ensure Shazam functions correctly, verify that microphone access is enabled in your device settings.
On iPhone or iPad:
- Open Settings app.
- Scroll down to the list of installed apps and tap “Shazam.”
- Turn on the toggle for “Microphone.”
If you don’t see the “Microphone” option in Shazam’s settings, it’s possible that privacy restrictions are enabled on your device. You may need to adjust your privacy settings to allow microphone access for Shazam.
Conclusion
Shazam provides a multitude of ways to identify music across all your Apple devices. From the dedicated Shazam app and convenient Control Center integration to Siri and Apple Watch, discovering new music and finding that “all the up song” has never been easier. Start using Shazam today to unlock a world of musical discovery and never wonder “What song is that?” again.
