Skip to main content

Shazam: Latest iOS update brings Twitter previews, faster tagging, and more

Shazam App Phone

Shazam, the hugely popular music- and media-recognition app, has just rolled out another update for iOS users.

Version 6.2.1 brings with it a neat feature for Twitter users that allows your followers to listen to a preview of a tweeted track from within the microblogging app via Shazam’s Twitter card.

Also, Shazam promises that iOS users with older devices like the iPhone 4 and 3G will notice “much faster” media recognition with the update, meaning you’ll be able to spend less time waving your hand at a speaker inside a store to discover a song and more time tweeting it, sharing it on Facebook, reading its lyrics, watching it on YouTube, reading artist info, reading the album review, or any of the other stuff you can do through the app.

The update says it’s tweaked the app to help it work better in “difficult” environments, such as in locations where there’s a load of background noise going on.

Finally, Explore charts have been enhanced to reveal popular tracks from the past week.

Below is the full list of changes as it appears in iTunes:

  • Much faster recognition, especially on the iPhone 4 and 3GS.
  • Better recognition in difficult environments.
  • Now when you tweet, your followers can play previews right in Twitter through our Twitter Card.
  • Explore charts are more dynamic, showing you what’s hot in the last seven days.
  • New TV experiences (US only).

Shazam launched in London in 1999 though it really took off with the arrival of the iPhone in 2007. The company said in February its user base had reached 300 million, with more than 95 million of those located in the US.

In July the company received funding to the tune of $40 million from Carlos Slim, a telecom boss and one of the richest people in the world. It’s believed Shazam will use the money to expand the element of its service that allows users to pull up information on TV shows and ads, a feature introduced last year. (Here are our thoughts on Shazam’s bright future.)

The free, ad-supported app is available across multiple platforms, though users can do away with the ads by switching to Shazam Encore for $7.

Shazam in iTunes

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
The 6 biggest iOS 17 features that Apple stole from Android
iOS 17 logo on an iPhone, Android logo on an Android phone.

Apple made a big splash at WWDC 2023 this year, with the big headline announcement being the Vision Pro augmented reality headset. But we also got a glimpse of what’s to come with iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS 14 Sonoma.

Though iOS 17 appears to be more of a quiet release this year that focuses on refinement and quality-of-life improvements, I have mixed feelings overall. To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed with the iOS 17 announcement based on what was actually shown off on stage, but there are some very cool features that Apple didn’t make a big deal out of (when it should have).

Read more
How to create your own iMessage stickers in iOS 17
An iPhone with iOS 17, showing custom stickers in iMessage.

Apple's iOS 17 brings a ton of new and fun features to the system apps. For instance, the Phone app gets Contact Posters, which lets you set full-screen photos for the caller screen. It's immersive and brings a fresh new look to the boring screen that comes up when someone is calling.

Another fun feature is being able to create stickers in the Messages app. iOS 17 lets you create a sticker by choosing any image from your photos. It uses iOS 16's press-and-hold to pick the subject but works automatically.

Read more
11 features in iOS 17 that I can’t wait to use on my iPhone
ios 17 11 features i cant wait to use on my iphone mashup

Apple made a big splash at WWDC 2023 this year as it introduced the first major new product since the Apple Watch with the Vision Pro spatial computing headset. But of course, we also got software announcements for iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS 14 Sonoma.

Though I feel that iOS 17 is an overall underwhelming update compared to the past few years with iOS 14 and iOS 16, there’s still a lot of interesting stuff coming. The developer beta is out now, and people have been diving into all that iOS 17 has to offer so far. And you know what? There’s plenty to talk about — including a few things Apple didn't even mention during the keynote.

Read more