The Best ‘What Song is This’ Apps for iPhone and Android

Here’s a scenario that can happen to everybody. You go out and you hear a song on the radio or in the store. You love the melody, but you can’t find out what it is based on Googling the lyrics. Luckily, there are some great apps that can reveal the names of songs you like.

Some of them recognize the song in real time, wherever you may have heard it. Others let you hum the song and then identify the tune. This article will list some of the best apps you can use for recognizing an unknown melody.

1. Shazam

Shazam is probably the most popular app for identifying songs. It is available for free on both Android and iOS devices.

The app doesn’t only reveal songs. It also remembers your ‘Shazaming’ history, so you can look up your old searches. It is a cross-platform app, so you can also watch a YouTube video of the song, see the lyrics, or buy the album on Amazon. Your Shazam profile will recommend artists like the ones you scanned. You can even share the songs on your social media profiles.

You can still use Shazam when you are offline. It will scan the song and remember it until you connect to a network, and then it will reveal all the information you need. If you want a quick, real-time, and high-end song identifier, look no further.

2. SoundHound

SoundHound is an app that identifies not only music but humming too. What if you heard a song but couldn’t use an app to scan it at the time? When you have your device at hand, open this app, hum the song, and SoundHound will recognize the melody.

This app offers similar features to Shazam, although the scanning is a bit slower in this case. The app makes up for the lack of speed with the amazing humming feature. Once the app recognizes your song, you can play the song right away in SoundHound. That way, you can verify that it found the right one.

It doesn’t only recognize mainstream songs, you can also find out about some amazing underground stuff.

3. MusixMatch

Musixmatch is an app that specializes in identifying lyrics, and it has some other handy features as well. It performs a bit worse than Shazam when it comes to identifying songs. But it will find lyrics for that song in an instant. You can add this app to any music streaming service, and the lyrics will sync.

The app keeps all the songs that you identified and adds them to its player. This helps you organize the songs or add certain playlists to other music players.

The most interesting feature in the app is the vocal cancelation. Musixmatch can remove vocals from a song and float the lyrics on the screen, making your phone into a portable karaoke player.

4. Genius

Genius is currently one of the biggest websites for song lyrics and music in general. The website database contains around 2 million songs and lyrics.

With this app, you can identify a song and then read accurate lyrics right away. Other Genius users may have added notes to certain verses. You can tap on the highlighted lines and see comments, explanations, and the context behind the lyrics.

The platform has a large community. If you like analyzing lyrics, you can make an account and communicate with others about your favorite artists and songs.

5. Google Sound Search

Google Sound Search is Google’s answer to Shazam and its alternatives. This feature on Android telephones works more like a widget. You can add it to your lock screen, if you like. That makes it easier and quicker to access.

Its reliability and the quick access are noteworthy features. But a major downside is that it only recognizes songs that are on Google Play. So, if you hear a song that you can’t get via the Google Play app, Sound Search won’t recognize it.

6. MusicID

MusicID identifies songs quickly and has some more interesting features too. It has a huge database of album covers, lyrics, and artist bios.

When you scan a song, you can add a comment to it. You can note your location, a quote, a random thought, or anything interesting you want to remember. Later, when you visit your scan history, you can hear a song and reminiscence about the moment. It’s a great app for those who connect music to experiences.