There’s nothing like hearing a song somewhere in the world and launching Shazam into action to find out what it is. However, if you found yourself using a smartwatch with Wear OS installed and didn’t have your Android phone around (perhaps when on a run), you were out of luck.
The Shazam team seems to have recognized this issue because, as spotted by 9to5Google, the app has been updated with an important feature: the ability to Shazam songs without the need for a paired Android phone.
In the release notes, the company said you no longer need your phone in order for your watch to recognize a song, unlocking a new way to scan for songs when you don’t have your phone on you. Now, you’ll just activate Shazam on your Wear OS smartwatch, and you’ll be good to go.
But that’s not the only thing that the Shazam team did with this update. In addition to making the app work without a phone, it also made it work without a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. The company says that when you’re offline, the app will now store the recording and, when you’re back online, find the song and notify you.
But wait! There’s more! Identified songs will now sync across your devices in real time, so if you scan for a song on your watch, you’ll see that song on the phone app right away.
Here’s the exact release notes:
Our improved watch app now recognizes songs without your phone app. It even works offline too! When you’re back online, Shazam will work to find the name of that song. Songs identified also now instantly sync across your devices in real-time.
To get started, simply download the latest version of the Shazam app for your smartwatch.
The update to the app is available now, so head on over to the Google Play Store and download it for your Wear OS smartwatch. I’ve been digging all of the deeper integration of Shazam on iOS and MacOS, so I’m glad to see Apple give Wear OS some love as well.