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Shazam for iPad Rebuilt as Universal App With Background Auto-Tagging and More

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Apr 12, 2001
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Shazam was one of the early App Store success stories, offering users the ability to easily identify music by capturing a snippet of the song and matching it against a database to provide title and artist information. The service has since expanded to integrate with the iTunes Store, YouTube, lyrics, and more, with TV shows and ads even adopting Shazam to allow users to easily learn more about the show or product.

Shazam has offered separate apps for the iPhone and iPad since 2010, but the company today unveiled a universal version of the iPhone app that includes a completely rebuilt experience for the iPad. A number of new features have shown up in the iPad version of Shazam, most notably a background tagging feature that allows users to have all matching incoming audio tagged even while using other applications on their devices. TechCrunch explains a bit more about how it works:
[A]fter downloading the updated version, users will be walked through a brief tutorial that explains what Auto-Tagging is all about, then allowing users to switch it on, if desired. If they do so, the app will run in the background, listening for anything it can identify, and loading those items into a carousel at the top of its homescreen.

From here, users can interact with the content much as before - sharing it on social media, buying the song, show or movie from iTunes or Amazon, or in the case of TV shows, learning more about the cast and episode, viewing a playlist of songs in the broadcast, or heading off to sites like Wikipedia, IMDb, the official website and/or store, and more.
Click to expand...
shazam_ipad_universal.jpg
Other new features arriving in Shazam 6.0 include a mapping system that allows users to see popular music on a city-by-city basis, Rdio integration, streamlined sharing, and automatic resubmission of tags for users in areas with poor reception. The iPad app is also adding for the first time Shazam's LyricPlay feature that shows lyrics on-screen in sync with the music.

Shazam is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Users interested in an ad-free Shazam experience can either upgrade through the free Shazam app or directly purchase Shazam Encore for $6.99. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Shazam for iPad Rebuilt as Universal App With Background Auto-Tagging and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/05/23/shazam-for-ipad-rebuilt-as-universal-app-with-background-auto-tagging-and-more/
GoCubsGo

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
Auto-tagging sounds fantastic but I wonder what kind of battery suck that will cause. I truly do love Shazam (and Sound Hound for that matter). I had found Sound Hound to be more accurate or capable of listening better in difficult environments. This update will make me definitely try Shazam more often.
 
GoCubsGo

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
ZacNicholson said:
how many people really use shazam?
Click to expand...

You've never been somewhere and wondered what song was playing? Also, I learned very recently that you can Shazam stuff on TV. I was in a hotel and wondered what I was watching. Without a guide to tell me, I used Shazam (recommended by someone on Twitter) and I instantly knew what I was watching.
 
M

mac98aop

macrumors member
Dec 21, 2010
38
56
Sounds great!

Shazam is brilliant!

It's not a daily app, but goodness is it handy when you want it! In the car, in the restaurant, in a shop, to be able to find that song you hear and want is brilliant!

As for the background tagging - battery drain dependent, that sounds excellent and I hope it finds its way to iPhone.

And there was Android and Windows users (no, I'm not trolling, but tire of poor comparisons) saying iOS can't multitask. This is an example of a useful feature happening in the background, just as you'd want it to. No?
 
G

GoldenJoe

macrumors 6502
Apr 26, 2011
369
164
I'm not sure I understand the use of the background feature. Unless you're at home, wouldn't the phone usually go into your pocket or purse when you finish the immediate task?
 
T

thederby

macrumors regular
Jun 22, 2007
164
80
Austin, TX
GoldenJoe said:
I'm not sure I understand the use of the background feature. Unless you're at home, wouldn't the phone usually go into your pocket or purse when you finish the immediate task?
Click to expand...

mine usually sits in a console when i'm driving or on the table when i'm at a restaurant.
 
mscriv

mscriv

macrumors 601
Aug 14, 2008
4,923
602
Dallas, Texas
I really have enjoyed Shazam and use it consistently for music identification in the car or out and about. I picked up the Encore version when it was a free promo a while back.
 
K

Kevtech1

macrumors member
Sep 10, 2009
59
4
Charlotte
I was a Soundhound user until they dropped Spotify integration. Shazam is a cool occasional app, but when they started limiting the amount of free look-ups per month I quit using it. Typically the title of the song can be figured out and then I can type it in to Spotify or Google it.
 
M

milo

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2003
6,891
522
What I can't figure out is how apps like Shazam can identify a song in a noisy restaurant yet iTunes match can't identify songs when it has the whole pristine file to analyze.
 
NightFox

NightFox

macrumors 68040
May 10, 2005
3,240
4,487
Shropshire, UK
I'm a little confused here - the article is about a universal app instead of the previous separate iPhone and iPad versions, but then goes on to talk about new features on the iPad version. Does it mean the universal app running on an iPad?

As far as I can see the auto tag feature doesn't seem to be there on the universal app running on an iPhone; I didn't get a walkthrough when I ran the update for the first time and there doesn't seem to be any option for it even though in the settings it says "Shazam listens every few seconds when open to speed tagging".

Seems strange to have the functionality when the app is running on an iPad but not on an iPhone, where it would arguably be more useful. Or am I missing something?
 
3

3282868

macrumors 603
Jan 8, 2009
5,281
0
milo said:
What I can't figure out is how apps like Shazam can identify a song in a noisy restaurant yet iTunes match can't identify songs when it has the whole pristine file to analyze.
Click to expand...

Ha! Kudos, very excellent point.
 
Shaun.P

Shaun.P

macrumors 68000
Jul 14, 2003
1,601
24
Omicron Persei 8
thederby said:
ahem:
Click to expand...

In the UK, you used to be able to dial 2580 from a mobile phone to dial Shazaam and let it listen to the song you wanted to tag. You would then get an SMS message telling your the name of the song + artist.

I think this cost around £0.50, obviously added onto your phone bill.

When the app came along, I certainly saved a small fortune!
 
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