The Shazam music recognition service was a ubiquitous term before Apple snapped up the app in 2017, but now the ‘name that tune’ app is truly going everywhere.
At the ongoing WWDC event, Apple has announced a new ShazamKit API, which will enable third-party developers, including those building Android apps, to add the tech to their own wares.
The new features, once embedded within the app, will enable users to pick out tunes from audio, video or podcast content existing within the third-party app.
So if you’re watching a movie on a streaming service for example, it’ll be possible to leverage the power of Shazam to pick out a song in the soundtrack without using a secondary device. The same goes for the theme utilised in a podcast, as we understand it.
On the ShazamKit developer page, Apple explains how the API – currently in beta – creates a unique acoustic signature of an audio recording in order to match it up to its vast content library.
Apple writes (via MacRumors): “Develop features in your apps using music recognition and seamlessly connect users to Shazam’s catalog of music. ShazamKit lets you enrich your app experience by letting users find out a song’s name, who sang it, the genre, and more. Learn where in the song the match was found in order to synchronize content with user experiences.”
Apple has been slowly integrating elements of Shazam into iOS for a little while now. It’s been possible to add a Shazam shortcut to the Control Center, which is easier than searching for the app on the home screen when quickly trying to analyse a piece of audio. However, no longer will the feature be confined to the best iPhone devices.
It’s not certain yet when we’ll see the first apps offering ShazamKit functionality, but a safe bet would be the iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 updates, which were announced yesterday and will come to consumers this autumn.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
