The good:Shazam
has a gorgeous interface that's simple to use. Song identifications are
reliable, and extras like the LiveLyrics feature are valuable.
The bad: Unlike
SoundHound, Shazam can't identify songs that are hummed or sung. Also,
when it successfully identifies a song, it doesn't offer quite as many
links or resources as its competitor.
The bottom line:Shazam lacks a few of rival SoundHound's power features, but without question, it looks better and is easier to use.
The
precursor to other services like SoundHound and Google Sound Search,
Shazam is the original name-that-tune app. Once you have it installed,
you can use it to identify, or "tag," a song that's playing within
earshot. For a long time, Shazam was hampered by a downright ugly
interface. But with its recent redesign, the simple and effective
functionality of the app finally gets the attractive packaging it
deserves.
Shazam comes in a free ad-supported version and a paid ad-free version called Shazam Encore.
When
you first install Shazam on your device, the app asks you to sign up to
receive your tags by e-mail. While it may not be clear, Shazam does not
require a log-in to use, so if you're not interested in this feature,
then be sure to hit the Skip button on the bottom.
Visually,
Shazam is stunning, with its clean, white interface and high-resolution
squared thumbnails. Also, it's easy to navigate the app, as its features
are all broken down into four pages: Tagging, My Tags, Chart, and
Friends. You can swipe laterally between them, or simply tap a shortcut
on the navigation bar up top.
Tagging songs
Shazam's Tagging screen, the default screen that opens upon launch, is
where all the magic happens. To get started here, just hit the big
Shazam button in the middle, and make sure your phone can "hear" the
music that's playing for at least a few seconds. As expected, this part
of the process is affected by the sensitivity of your mobile device's
microphone, so you may have to turn the music up or get closer to the
source if the app doesn't get a good sample. Typically, a few seconds is
all it takes for Shazam to recognize the unique signature of the song
in question and pull up a profile.
Shazam's newest update included a completely cleaned-up interface.
For the most part, Shazam's song recognition capabilities seem
on par with or better than other apps in its category. When tested with
the same songs, SoundHound and Shazam typically both did the deed in a
few seconds, save for a few songs that were identifiable by only one of
the services. Performance-wise, I'd say the two here are a wash.
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