A new feature on YouTube Music for Android allows users to search for songs by humming, singing, or playing a melody on an instrument. This long-awaited tool has been in development and testing since March.
The logo of YouTube Music is seen during a conference at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, in Cannes, France, June 19, 2018. (Photo : REUTERS/Eric Gaillard)
Revolutionizing Song Search on YouTube Music for Android
YouTube Music for Android has introduced the long-awaited feature that allows users to play a melody on an instrument, sing, or hum to search for a song. According to 9to5Google, this tool is now available for Android users.
To utilize it, users need to tap the magnifying glass icon at the top right corner of the app and locate the waveform icon next to the microphone icon. Tapping the waveform icon enables users to hum or sing the melody they have in mind.
After this, the software swiftly generates a fullscreen results page presenting essential song details, including cover art, song name, artist, album, release year, and more.
This innovative feature was built upon the Pixel's Now Playing functionality. It employs advanced AI algorithms to match the sound with the original recording, enhancing user experience on the platform.
Tapping the top-left corner or initiating another search from the bottom facilitates exiting this screen. Testing for this feature began in March, and it is reminiscent of a similar offering previously available in Google Play Music.
The introduction of song search functionality accompanies a server-side update bundled with version 7.02 of YouTube Music for Android. However, its availability for iOS users remains undisclosed.
While this feature may be novel for YouTube Music, it is not entirely groundbreaking on online music platforms. A comparable functionality was introduced by Google Search in 2020, and a similar feature was integrated into the standard YouTube app just last year.
Deezer, another online music streaming service, unveiled its own "hum to search" tool as early as 2022. The identification process appears to be relatively fast. Upon completion, a full-screen results page displays various details, including cover art, song title, artist, album, release year, and even the download or offline availability.
Shortcuts for options like Play or Save to your library are also provided alongside the standard overflow menu for additional actions.
In an experimental phase last August, YouTube introduced a feature enabling users to identify songs by humming. Following a widespread rollout of the YouTube app for Android devices in October, indications suggest that the YouTube Music app is poised to receive this convenient song identification functionality.
According to an Android Police report in March, this feature also appears to be active on the YouTube Music app for iOS. The report shows a screenshot showing how this new song search feature has its own button next to the search bar and the microphone icon in the YouTube Music app.
