While you can use Google Assistant on your Android phone to identify the songs playing around you, you might still prefer the music recognition service Shazam, which has been available on Android since 2008—a full nine years before the advent of Google Assistant’s sound fingerprint technology. If so, now Shazam songs just got easier in seconds, no matter what screen you’re on.
Apple has been steadily integrating Shazam capabilities into iOS since it acquired the music recognition service in 2018. For example, iPhone users can add the Shazam widget to the Today View or Home screen, use it on their Apple Watch, integrate it into a shortcut, and launch it from the Control Center. Cupertino even made Shazam’s superpowers available to third-party developers through ShazamKit.
But Apple hasn’t abandoned Shazam for Android. While Apple shut down the Dark Sky weather app for Android after acquiring it, the Shazam app for Android still works. In fact, he took advantage of some of the new Android developer tools to make it as easy for Android users to access the app as it is for iPhone users.
Step 1: Update the Shazam app
The new Tile Service API, released with Android 13, allows developers to prompt users to add tiles for their apps to the Quick Settings panel. The latest Shazam update (13.2.0) implements this API, so update your app if you haven’t already.
Note, however, that Shazam has been available as a quick settings tile for a long time, so the only new addition is that the Shazam app will recommend that you add your tile to quick settings from within the app.
- Play Store Link: Shazam (Free)
The new Shazam update also supports themed app icons on Android 13, so if your Android phone is set to your icon theme, the Shazam app icon will be colored in the color of your wallpaper and other themes. Themed icons have been around since Android 12, but only for Google apps; Android 13 gave third-party developers access to this feature.
Step 2: Add a Shazam tile from the app
After updating to the latest version of Shazam, you’ll see a prompt at the bottom of the screen prompting you to add Shazam to your quick settings when you open the app. Touch it to bring up a dialog box to confirm the permission; click the “Add Tile”button to continue. You will see a message confirming the action.
If you don’t see the prompt in the Shazam app, you can still add its quick settings tile directly from the quick settings tile editor. If you ever remove a Shazam tile from Quick Settings, you may not see the Tile Service API prompt the next time you open the Shazam app. (See Step 4 below for how to manually add a Shazam tile.)
Step 3Access Shazam from Quick Settings
After adding a tile, you can now access Shazam from Quick Settings by swiping down from the top of the screen to minimize the notifications panel. Swipe down with one finger to see your favorite quick settings tiles above your notifications, and swipe down again to open the rest. You can also swipe down with two fingers to open an expanded view of quick settings.
Android can jump straight to it if you just added it via the Tile Service API. Otherwise, swipe left on the expanded view until you reach the Shazam tile. If you see it immediately collapsed, you obviously don’t have to swipe to find it.
Step 4: Rearrange the Quick Settings Tiles (Optional)
For stock Android, just like on Google Pixel devices, double or two-finger swipe down from the top of the screen to open the extended Quick Settings panel. Then, tap the pencil icon below tiles to open a list of your active and available tiles, including those from third-party apps like Shazam. Touch and drag the tiles to rearrange them however you like.
The process is similar on other Android devices. For example, on a Samsung Galaxy model, swipe down from the top of the screen twice or with two fingers to access the advanced Quick Settings panel, just like in stock Android. However, instead of the pencil icon, you’ll tap the vertical ellipsis button, then “Change Buttons”or “Button Order”to open the Quick Settings Editor.
Shazam also has a second tile for Auto-Shazam, which allows the app to remain constantly active in the background to recognize songs. Pixel devices already have similar functionality through the Now Playing feature, but for other Android devices, Shazam can fill that void for you.