Android users will soon be able to recognise songs without the need of a third-party app like Shazam or SoundHound. A voice command like "Ok Google, what's this song?" should be enough to fetch results. The "what song is this" is already available on Pixel 2, which currently has an updated version of Google Assistant that is set to come to more devices soon. Notably, the song identification feature has been available to Apple users since iOS 8, and Siri identified songs via an integration with Shazam.
Readers should note that the 'Now Playing' always-on music identification feature that the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL have, is not the same as the song identification feature of Google Assistant. Now Playing is exclusive to Pixel devices for now.
Android Police reports that is has confirmed the new Google Assistant feature will make its way to other devices when an updated version of Google Assistant rolls out to them.
The report explains that the song recognise feature will work after you ask the question. The search bar will show the results after a bit of search on the Internet, and show the results as cards. It also adds that Google will also offer services on which users will be able to play the song. We will have to still wait for Google's confirmation on the feature whether it will be widely rolled out or will be specific to certain countries.
Speaking to Gadgets 360 about the Now Playing feature on feature phones, Google's Brian Rakowski, President, Android Platform, had explained that the new always-on song recognition feature on new Pixel devices won't essentially use data to identify songs playing in the background. It essentially searches through on-device library of tens of thousands of songs, but, doesn't use much space on devices.
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