YouTube Music gets 'hum to search' feature on Android: Here's how it works

With "hum to search" feature on YouTube Music, users can hum, sing or play any vocal and find nearest matches on YouTube Music

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YouTube Music gets a new feature that lets you find a song even if you do not remember the lyrics or the name. Called “hum to search” the feature is now rolling out in staggered manner and would soon be available to everyone on Android app. With this feature, Google’s audio streaming platform allows users to search songs by humming, whistling or singing the tune. Moreover, you can play a recorded audio of the song to let the app identify it.
 

How it works

• On the YouTube Music app for Android, tap the search bar in the upper right corner
• In the search bar, tap on the waveform icon that appears next to the microphone icon
• After tapping the icon, you will be taken to a page with words “Play, sing, or hum a song”
• After you hum the song, the app starts finding the closest audio that matches the tune
• Best suited songs will be displayed and you can either choose which one to listen to or save songs from the results to the music library

The feature works for Hindi, English, and select other languages. According to 9to5Google, the new feature has been spotted on the YouTube Music App version 7.02, and the rollout is in progress. Naturally, some users have reported that the feature is now available even after updating the app. The feature is being seen as a rival to Shazam, but faster and accurate.

This feature of recognising audio to identify songs was first available in Shazam. Shazam was created by a British company and is owned by Apple since 2018. The app is accessible on Android, macOS, iOS, Wear OS, watchOS and also as Google Chrome extension. It requires a wireless connection to work.

Hum to search has been available on Google Voice Search, Google Assistant, Google Podcast, YouTube, and YouTube Music for iOS. Google also has an integrated “Now Playing” feature exclusively for Pixel, which when activated will identify the song playing around the device and will show it on the screen.