Pixel’s best music feature is finally coming to Apple, but not on the iPhone

The newest Apple Watches, Series 12 and Ultra 4, now feature Audio Intelligence, enabling Shazam to silently recognize music nearby without any manual effort from users. Once music is identified, the song titles and artist names are automatically displayed in the Music Recognition widget within the watchOS Smart Stack, presenting a convenient glanceable feature on the wrist.

The exact release date for this instant Shazam functionality remains unknown, but it will undoubtedly launch with the new watches. Google Pixels have long been recognized for their "Now Playing" feature, which constantly and silently identifies music in the surrounding environment. This handy functionality saves users from the manual task of Shazaming a song.

Apple has now adopted this feature for its newest smartwatches, bypassing the iPhone altogether. The inclusion of the S11 chip in the Series 12 and Ultra 4 watches eliminates the need for users to manually identify ambient songs. These advancements in Audio Intelligence aim to streamline the song recognition process, making it more seamless and user-friendly.