Apple bought Shazam in 2018, and over the years, the app has gone through some significant changes. Song detection has improved, it’s integrated with Apple Music and we have automatic song detection features (more on that later). But an Apple patent has come to light, echoed by 9to5Mac, which can change everything.
You won’t need to Shazam because you’ll already be doing it
The 9to5Mac portal echoes a patent that Apple would be developing to improve the Shazam app, in such a way that it is capable of detecting music, without us having to open the application, activate the “auto shazam” from the app, ask it to Siri to find the song for us, etc. So, one can think that the microphone of the iPhone is going to be on all the time and it is going to pick up sounds, and Shazam is going to detect what song it is. Well, even if it seems incredible, the answer is that none of this.
The patent that 9to5Mac is talking about was published on September 15, 2022, by the United States Patent and Registration Office and the name is “Proactive Actions Based on Audio and Body Movement”. (Proactive actions based on audio and body movement). But what does this have to do with Shazam? The abstract of the patent itself tells us:
“Various implementations described in this document include devices, systems, and methods that determine that a user is interested in audio content by determining that a movement (eg, the movement of a user’s head) has a temporal relationship to the detected audio content (e.g., background music beat)”, the document mentions.
In addition, they explain that it is through sensors, which will be measuring the variables of the physical environment and of the person, such as the “background” audio and body movement, relationships are established between the different songs that can be played. And depending on our reaction, it could be known if “because we have stopped to listen, it is because we like the song.” And it is just at that moment, where Shazam would come in, so that, just by “putting the ear”, Shazam activates and tells us what song is playing.
Constantly connected sensors?
It sounds like a Black Mirror experience, but it involves sensors that are connected to each other, which, based on movement and ambient sound, make a decision. From there, Shazam’s “invisibility”, since we would not need to invoke it by making inputs with our device. Also, the question arises as to what those sensors might be. 9to5Mac explains that “the patent suggests that the next generation of this app will work on many more devices like headsets, the iPhone, mixed reality devices, an iPad, smart contact lenses, the ‘head up’ display of vehicles”.
In addition, the patent itself explains that one of the methods that they have, “in addition to identifying interest in the content, it presents a selectable option to play the content from the beginning, continue playing the content, once the physical space where that content was played is left, being able to buy that content, download it or add it to a playlist. There is still no arrival date for this function and for now, it consists of that: a patent. Patent that has the registration number 20220291743 and that you can read in full here or more briefly in Patently Apple.
