At the end of 2017, Apple announced that it had bought the British firm behind Shazam, meaning that it could pave the way for even deeper integration with Apple’s software, as well as providing the opportunity to incorporate song identification into the Apple Music streaming service.
An exciting development as a result of this is tha the iOS version of Shazam has gained a handy new offline mode, which lets you identify songs even when you don’t have access to Wi-Fi or a mobile data connection. It works by caching the song data until a connection is available, then matching it automatically when you’re back online.
Offline ‘Shazamming’ has been available in the Android version of the app for a while now, but that doesn’t mean users of Android phones have been left with nothing new. A recent update to the Android version of Shazam reduced the size of the app by 10MB and added an Auto Shazam mode (also available in the iOS version), which automatically identifies songs that play around you.
How to use Shazam when you’re offline!
- To identify a song if you’re offline, just tap the blue button as usual. Shazam will listen to the song and analyse the tune like always, but then you’ll see a message saying that the Shazam has been saved.
- Tap OK in iOS or Got It! in Android.
- Next time you’re online, just open the app and tap My Shazam.
- The identified song will appear at the top of the list.
