How to Identify Any Song On Your iPhone With Just a Tap

BY Parth Shah

Published 24 Nov 2020

iOS 14 update comes with 100+ new features on the iPhone. If you think Apple is done with new additions on iOS 14 then think again. With iOS 14.2, Apple added some useful new features to the iPhone one of which is the Shazam music recognition toggle in the Control Centre. Thanks to this deep Shazam integration, you can identify songs playing around you and then play it directly in the Music app. If you are wondering how to use Shazam music recognition then read along.

To be clear, Apple already offers Shazam integration through Siri. You can trigger Siri and ask which song is currently playing around you. The iOS 14.2 update makes it easy to identify songs with a dedicated toggle in the Control Centre.

Use Shazam Music Recognition Toggle in Control Centre

The Music Recognition toggle doesn’t show up in Control Center by default (at least in the beta), but it can be enabled by opening up the Settings app. Follow the steps to enable the toggle in the iOS Control Centre.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on the iPhone.

Step 2: Navigate to Control Centre.

Step 3: Scroll down to more controls and you will notice the Music Recognition option. Tap on the ‘+’ icon.

Step 4: Once it’s added in the included controls, you can use drag and drop to change the toggle position in the Control Centre.

Now whenever you find an interesting song playing around you or on the device, simply visit the Control Centre and toggle on Shazam Music Recognition.

You will notice an orange dot at the upper right corner indicating the device microphone in use. After a successful process, you’ll be notified through a pop-up banner. Tapping the banner opens up Shazam, but a long press will give you the option to open the song right in Apple Music, which is handy for ‌Apple Music‌ subscribers.

If you’re watching a YouTube video or TV series on phone and want to know what song is in it, you can just tap the Music Recognition toggle to find out. It even works when AirPods are connected, so the sound doesn’t need to be out loud.

For testing, we tried playing Adele’s Fire to the Rain video on YouTube and used the Shazam Music Recognition. The service quickly identified the song playing on the device and upon a long-press, it took me to the Apple Music app to play or download the song. Neat!

Do note that you first need to update iPhone to the iOS 14.2 version. Go ahead and give it a try and share your experience in the comments section below.

Learn how to use the cool new iOS 14 features with our step-by-step guide: