Apple's Shazam Control Center Music Recognition Feature Hits 1 Billion Songs Identified

With the launch of iOS 14.2, Apple introduced a new Shazam Music Recognition toggle for the Control Center, giving iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users a quick and easy way to identify what music is playing.

shazam music recognition
Music Recognition has been a popular Control Center integration, and according to Apple, Shazam just surpassed 1 billion cumulative recognitions from the Control Center on iOS devices.

Compared to the standard Shazam app, Music Recognition is unique because it allows users to identify songs playing in their favorite apps, TV shows, and movies even while wearing headphones, a feature available in addition to the option to identify songs playing out loud.

The number one most Shazamed track from the Control Center is Bruno Mars' "Talking to the Moon," with a list of the top 10 Shazamed songs available below.

  • "Talking To The Moon" - Bruno Mars
  • "Astronaut In The Ocean" - Masked Wolf
  • "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" - Lil Nas X
  • "Beggin" - Måneskin
  • "Another Love" - Tom Odell
  • "Runaway" - AURORA
  • "Dick" - StarBoi3 Feat. Doja Cat
  • "Arcade" - Duncan Laurence
  • "Stay" - The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber
  • "drivers license" - Olivia Rodrigo

For those who do not already use Music Recognition, it can be added to the Control Center by opening up the Settings app and selecting the Control Center section. From there, scroll down and tap the "+" button next to the "Music Recognition" option that has the Shazam logo. Once added, users can access the Control Center and tap on the icon with the Shazam logo to identify a song that's playing.

Apple is improving Music Recognition in iOS 15 and going forward, it will automatically save a list of songs that users have discovered through the Control Center feature. The Music Recognition history can be viewed by long pressing on the Shazam Control Center icon on a device running iOS 15 or iPadOS 15.

Developers are also now able to take advantage of a ShazamKit API that allows Shazam's audio recognition technology to be integrated directly into apps, and the first apps with this functionality will launch this fall.

Tag: Shazam

Popular Stories

iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...

Top Rated Comments

JDabney24 Avatar
54 months ago

I don't like you can’t try again later when their music database is updated like sound hound. Also I do a control center Shazam and later open the Shazam app and it has no history and I lost what I was searching for.
Thankfully iOS 15 fixes this. If you Haptic Touch on the icon on iOS 15, it opens a history of identified songs. I am on the beta currently and I have 20 songs identified in history so far.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JosephAW Avatar
54 months ago
I don't like you can’t try again later when their music database is updated like sound hound. Also I do a control center Shazam and later open the Shazam app and it has no history and I lost what I was searching for.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Populus Avatar
54 months ago
Funny thing, I do have Shazam icon on my control center, and for some reason, when I need to quickly identify a song, I go to spotlight, search for the Shazam app, and launch the app. I completely ignore that Control Center button.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Böhme417 Avatar
54 months ago

Funny thing, I do have Shazam icon on my control center, and for some reason, when I need to quickly identify a song, I go to spotlight, search for the Shazam app, and launch the app. I completely ignore that Control Center button.
I removed my control center button, because it has no link to the app. It keeps no history and doesn’t save to a playlist.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MisterSavage Avatar
54 months ago
Still remember how amazed I was the first time I saw Shazam in action.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MauiPa Avatar
54 months ago

This inability to see search history makes the app as it currently stands worthless. I'm not going to go searching for songs AFTER the app has recognized it while in a social setting. If I don't do it then and there, the identification is lost. It's so dumb. Nice that the entire phone needs an update for this to function as well as it's acquired app from 10 years ago.
Shazam is great, hardly "worthless". all my shazams are in a history, just scroll through them in the order you shammed. Seriously, this complaint of yours is confusing. Sorry it is too complicated for you. Maybe there is another app that works better for you
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)