Have you ever been in a coffee shop, watching a movie, or at a friend’s house and heard a song you loved but couldn’t name? It’s a common frustration for music lovers. Thankfully, with Shazam, asking “What Song Is This Playing?” is a question easily answered across all your Apple devices. Whether you’re using an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, or Apple Vision Pro, Shazam offers multiple ways to quickly identify almost any song in seconds.
This guide will walk you through all the methods to use Shazam and its features to discover new music and answer the question “what song is this playing?”.
Using the Shazam App
The Shazam app is the core of the Shazam experience, offering both manual and automatic song identification. It’s incredibly useful, even working when the music is playing directly from your device, even if you are using headphones.
Identifying a Song Manually
The most straightforward way to use Shazam is to manually identify a song when you hear it.
- Open the Shazam app on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro.
- Tap the Shazam button. It’s the large, central button in the app.
You can navigate away from the Shazam app and use other apps while it works to identify the music. Once Shazam recognizes the song, a notification will appear on your device letting you know the track and artist.
Even without an internet connection, the Shazam app is smart enough to create a digital fingerprint of the music. It will then attempt to identify the song the next time your device connects to the internet.
It’s worth noting that songs identified using the Shazam app on a Mac are handled slightly differently. They aren’t automatically saved to “My Music” within Shazam, nor are they synced across your devices or backed up to iCloud. For Mac users who desire syncing and iCloud backup, using Shazam Music Recognition in Control Center is the better option.
Using Auto Shazam
For situations where you want to continuously identify music playing around you without manually tapping the button each time, Auto Shazam is a fantastic feature.
- To activate Auto Shazam, press and hold (or double-click on Mac) the Shazam button. You’ll see a visual cue indicating Auto Shazam is active.
- To deactivate Auto Shazam, simply tap (or click on Mac) the Shazam button again.
On iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, you can also set Shazam to automatically start listening as soon as you open the app. To enable this:
- Tap My Music at the bottom of the Shazam app screen.
- Tap the Settings button (gear icon).
- Toggle “Shazam on app start” to the on position.
Songs identified with Auto Shazam are conveniently grouped by date within “My Music” for easy browsing and review.
Finding Your Identified Songs
Shazam keeps a history of all the songs you’ve identified, making it easy to revisit your musical discoveries.
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On iPhone or iPad: Tap My Music at the bottom of the app. Here you’ll find a list of your Shazamed songs. To remove a song, tap the More button (three dots) next to the song and select “Remove from My Music.”
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On Apple Watch: Recently identified songs are displayed below the Shazam button in the app and are also saved to “My Music” on your paired iPhone.
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On Mac: Recent songs appear directly below the Shazam button within the Shazam app.
Using Shazam Music Recognition in Control Center
For even quicker access to song identification, especially when you’re already using your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, Shazam Music Recognition in Control Center is incredibly convenient. Like the app, it can identify songs playing on your device, even with headphones.
A significant advantage of using Shazam Music Recognition in Control Center, and also when using Siri for song identification, is its integration with the Shazam app (if installed) and iCloud:
- Songs identified are saved to “My Music” in the Shazam app.
- They appear in the History view within Shazam in Control Center across all your devices where you’ve set it up.
- Your Shazam history is backed up to iCloud, ensuring your identified songs are safe and accessible.
Setting Up Shazam Music Recognition in Control Center on iPhone & iPad
If you haven’t already added Shazam Music Recognition to your Control Center, here’s how:
- Open Control Center on your iPhone or iPad (swipe down from the top-right corner on iPhones with Face ID, or swipe up from the bottom edge on iPhones with a Home button).
- Tap the Add Controls (+) button, usually located at the top of the screen.
- Scroll down and tap the Add a Control button next to Recognize Music (Shazam icon). This adds it to your Control Center.
- Close Control Center by swiping up from the bottom of the screen (on iPhones with Face ID) or pressing the Home button.
Now, to identify a song, simply open Control Center and tap the Recognize Music button (Shazam icon). To see your Shazam history from Control Center, press and hold the Recognize Music button, then tap History.
Setting Up Shazam Music Recognition in Control Center on Mac
Adding Shazam Music Recognition to Control Center on your Mac is just as easy:
- Go to the Apple menu > System Settings, then select Control Center in the sidebar.
- Find Music Recognition in the list and toggle Show in Control Center to the on position.
- Optionally, 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 as well.
To identify a song, click the Music Recognition button in Control Center (or the menu bar, if you added it there), and click the button again to start recognition. To access your Shazam history, click the Music Recognition button
in Control Center or the menu bar. Clicking on a song in the History view will provide you with more details about the song and artist, including upcoming concerts, videos, and more.
Keeping Your Shazam Songs Safe with iCloud Sync
To ensure your identified songs are backed up and available across all your Apple devices, syncing Shazam with iCloud is crucial. When enabled, songs identified via the Shazam app (on iPhone, iPad, or Vision Pro), Shazam Music Recognition in Control Center, Siri, or Shortcuts are all saved and synced.
If you’re experiencing issues with iCloud syncing, try these troubleshooting steps:
- Update Shazam to the latest version from the App Store.
- Ensure you have two-factor authentication enabled for your Apple ID.
- Verify iCloud Sync is turned on within the Shazam app:
- Open the Shazam app.
- Swipe up on the main Shazam screen to access “My Music”.
- Tap the Settings button, and then tap iCloud Sync to turn it on.
- Confirm Shazam has iCloud access in your device’s settings:
- On iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro: Go to Settings > your name > iCloud > See All (under “Apps Using iCloud”). Make sure Shazam is enabled in the list.
- On Mac: Go to Apple menu > System Settings > Apple ID > iCloud, then click See All next to “Apps Syncing with iCloud”. Ensure Shazam is turned on.
- On both iPhone/iPad/Vision Pro and Mac, double-check that Shazam Music Recognition is also enabled (in Control Center settings as described earlier).
With iCloud sync active, your Shazam history is protected with end-to-end encryption, ensuring only you can access it on your trusted devices. Note that with iCloud sync enabled, your Shazam history will no longer be viewable on Shazam.com.
If you choose not to use iCloud backup, your identified songs will still be saved locally on your device. You can enable iCloud backup at any time, unless you’ve restored your device to factory settings or are using a new device.
Remember that songs identified using the Shazam app for Mac without using Control Center’s Music Recognition are saved locally to your Mac only and are not synced or backed up to iCloud. For syncing and backup, using Music Recognition in Control Center on your Mac is recommended.
Other Ways to Ask “What Song Is This Playing?”
Beyond the app and Control Center, Apple provides even more ways to quickly identify music using Shazam technology.
Using Siri
Siri offers a hands-free way to ask “what song is this playing?”. Simply activate Siri on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, Mac, or Apple Vision Pro by saying “Hey Siri,” and then ask, “What song is this?”. Songs identified by Siri are conveniently saved to “My Music” in the Shazam app, appear in the History view in Music Recognition, and are backed up to iCloud, just like using Control Center recognition.
Shazam Widget
For iPhone and iPad users, adding the Shazam widget to your Today View provides one-tap access to song identification directly from your home screen or Lock Screen’s Today View.
Shazam on Apple Watch
The Shazam app is also available for Apple Watch, allowing you to identify songs directly from your wrist.
Shazam Shortcuts
For advanced users, the “Shazam It” action can be added to your Shortcuts, enabling you to incorporate music recognition into custom workflows and automations.
Buying Songs You Find with Shazam
Once you’ve identified a song with Shazam and decided you want to add it to your music library, purchasing it through iTunes is simple:
- In Shazam, tap the More button (three dots) next to the song you wish to purchase and select Buy on iTunes.
- You’ll be taken to the iTunes Store page for that song. Tap the price next to the song to initiate the purchase.
- Sign in to your Apple ID to complete the transaction.
- After purchasing, you can find the song in your Apple Music app under the Library tab.
- To download the song for offline listening, tap the Download button (cloud icon).
If you don’t see the “Buy on iTunes” button directly in Shazam, the song may still be available for purchase. Visit the iTunes Store app to check.
Microphone Permissions for Shazam
For Shazam to effectively identify music, it needs microphone access on your device. On iPhone and iPad, you can manage microphone permissions for Shazam in Settings:
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down to the list of installed apps and tap Shazam.
- Ensure the Microphone toggle is turned on.
If you don’t see a Microphone option in Shazam’s settings, it’s possible that you have restrictions enabled in your Privacy settings that are preventing microphone access. You may need to adjust your Privacy settings to allow microphone access for Shazam.
With so many ways to use Shazam, you’ll never have to wonder “what song is this playing?” again. Start exploring and discovering new music today!
