The Shazam app for Wear OS just got a neat update: it can now work independently of your Android phone.
The update, which was spotted by 9to5Google, basically removes the need for the wrist app to confer with the app on your phone. You don’t even need the app downloaded on your Android for it to work. I downloaded it directly onto the OnePlus Watch 2 that I’m testing without doing so on the Pixel 8 Pro it’s paired to. It still works! And quickly at that. It was able to correctly identify some bangers on my K-pop playlist within a second or two. (To be fair, there wasn’t any background noise in my office. Your mileage may vary in a coffee shop.)
Another neat update is that if your watch is offline, the app will save a clip of the song and wait until you’ve got an internet connection to identify it. That’s handy if you didn’t spring for a cellular watch — or if, like the OnePlus Watch 2, your Wear OS watch of choice doesn’t have an LTE option. If you do have the Shazam app on your phone, you can also instantly sync your finds. (Just make sure you’re logged in to the same Shazam account.)
I’m a big fan of Shazam-ing from the wrist, so it’s nice to see the Wear OS version of the app get some love.
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Ramona Emerson is a Diné writer and filmmaker originally from Tohatchi, New Mexico. He has a bachelor’s in Media Arts from the University of New Mexico and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. After starting in forensic videography, she embarked upon a career as a photographer, writer, and editor. He is an Emmy nominee, a Sundance Native Lab Fellow, a Time-Warner Storyteller Fellow, a Tribeca All-Access Grantee and a WGBH Producer Fellow. In 2020, Emerson was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Film and Media Industries for the State of New Mexico. He currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she and her husband, the producer Kelly Byars, run their production company Reel Indian Pictures. Shutter is her first novel