How to identify a song on the iPhone and open it directly in the Spotify app

Don’t use Shazam to identify songs for your Spotify iPhone app. Google apps let you open recognized songs much easier.

Would you like to identify a song playing near you and open it directly in the Spotify app on your iPhone? Forget Shazam, there is a better way.

The problem with Shazam on the iPhone

▸ Shazam is the most popular, longest established, application to recognize music. You can have the app installed on your iPhone and get the song’s details instantly.

▸ The problem with the Shazam app is that it takes many taps to have the song opened in your Spotify app. 

▸ You can use a built-in Music Recognition in the Control Center instead. When you add it to your Control Center panel, just tap the button to make your iPhone start listening.

▸ The Control Center song identification is powered by Shazam, which was acquired by Apple in 2017 – for a reason. You will not be able to open a song in the Spotify app. The only link is to the Apple’s Music app, prompting you to buy a subscription.

▸ In general, Shazam is not a suitable solution for iPhone users who use Spotify instead of the Apple Music app.

Luckily, there is a quicker and easier way than Shazam. You can use Google’s reliable song identification feature that’s built into two apps that you can have on your iPhone: Google Assistant and Google. 

Both apps let you identify a song with your voice. Just tap the mic in the app and say “What’s this song?”.

Both apps let you recognize music quietly, by just tapping a button. It’s a convenient solution, if you find a song in public spaces, such as a café or a hotel lobby.

I prefer the Google app, as it’s more versatile than the Assistant.

How to identify a song on the iPhone and open it directly in your Spotify app

1. Open the Google app on your iPhone. If you don’t have it, download it from the App Store.

2. Find the “Identify song” button on the list of default features right under the Search box. Tap it and direct your iPhone to the source of music.

3. If you use the feature for the first time, you will be asked to allow the Google app to access the iPhone’s mic.

4. Wait for the app to recognize the song and open the Google web search result page.

5. Tap the “Spotify” button below to open the song directly in the Spotify app so that you can add it to your playlist.

The best thing about using Google or Google Assistant apps to recognize songs with the iPhone is that they link to any app that includes that song: not only Spotify, but also Apple Music, YouTube Music, or Deezer.

Note: Please keep in mind that the song identification feature is available only in Google apps for iPhone, not iPad.