Musical Memories: Apple expands Shazam recognition

Apple is expanding its Shazam music recognition function in iOS 18.2 to include the option of saving the locations where a piece of music was recognized. This makes it possible to trace where the user was when they heard the music, which can be useful, for example, when remembering a concert or a vacation experience where a particular song was played.

Macworld in the US was the first to report on the so-called Musical Memoires. These are included in the current beta version of iOS 18.2. The update to the iPhone operating system is due to be released in December and will expand the software to include additional functions for Apple's artificial intelligence, Apple Intelligence.

Owned by Apple since 2018

Shazam was acquired by Apple in 2018; the purchase was announced at the end of 2017. The music recognition service was previously represented independently with an app in the App Store. After the acquisition, Apple integrated the function into its operating systems; on the iPhone, it can be found in the Control Center or accessed via the Siri voice assistant. Shazam is now available for iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS.

The newly discovered function is hidden behind the button in the Control Center. A long press on this button opens a context menu with a button called History. All previously recognized music tracks can be viewed there. A new splash screen is now displayed in iOS 18.2, which provides information about the new functions.

No overall map yet

Users must grant Shazam access to their location data. Afterwards, the GPS coordinates are automatically stored in the history for each recognition and can be displayed on a map in the history view. The data can only be displayed individually for each entry; an overall map does not yet exist. Tapping on the place name automatically opens the Apple Maps app.

(mki)