Everyone knows the moment. You hear a song playing out in the world, and you either just can’t quite remember the name, or it’s your first time hearing it, and you want to know more. What if your phone automatically identified it all on its own? That’s the magic of Pixel’s “Now Playing,” and Apple is still scrambling to catch up.
What is Now Playing on a Pixel Phone?
“Now Playing” has been a core feature found on Pixel phones since nearly the beginning (launched on the Pixel 2 series). The idea is pretty simple, but very handy. The phone passively listens for music in the background and automatically identifies songs without you having to ask.
When Google hears a song and can identify it, the name and artist are displayed on the lock screen. You can then tap the song and be taken directly to it in YouTube Music, YouTube, or Spotify. If the phone detects that music is playing, but it can’t identify the song, an icon appears that allows you to perform a manual audio search with Google. Pixel phones also keep a history—going back several months—of all the songs that have been identified. It’s even possible to add songs to a YouTube Music playlist from the history page.
It’s All About Speed
On an iPhone, there’s no such thing as Now Playing. The closest thing to it is the Shazam shortcut in the Control Center. But that’s not nearly as effortless a process. You have to unlock your iPhone, swipe down for the Control Center, tap the Shazam icon, and wait for the little animation to identify the song. It’s very easy to miss the ending of the song by the time the iPhone catches up, sorta like scrambling to scan a QR code in a TV commercial.
The genius of Now Playing is how it completely removes any effort on your part. It runs silently, passively, and constantly in the background, listening for music using on-device processing. No data leaves your phone, and it uses minimal battery. You simply hear a song you like, glance down at your lock screen, and there it is, printed near the bottom of the screen. It’s an effortless, instantaneous moment of recognition that feels incredibly futuristic every time I use it.
The iPhone, of course, can recognize music. Siri is integrated with Shazam, and you can add the aforementioned button to your Control Center. The key difference, however, is that both of those methods require an action from you—and it feels like an afterthought on Apple’s part. You have to ask Siri, or you have to actively press a button. It’s a utility you must manually summon, not an ambient layer of intelligence designed directly into the phone.
A Great Feature to Show Off
This subtle difference is one of the features that always makes me feel cool for having a Pixel phone. It’s common to be out with people and inevitably someone will ask, “What’s that song?” It feels like a superpower to be able to pull out my phone and instantly have the answer. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, Now Playing is not a feature that will convince anyone to buy a Pixel over an iPhone, but little things add up.
In 2025, the thing I appreciate about Now Playing is that it feels like what many “AI features” claim and fail to do. Through no input of my own, it works in the background and makes my life just a tiny bit easier. It’s also remarkably reliable and doesn’t make things up when it can’t identify a song. For the sake of iPhone owners, I’d love to see Apple adopt a similar feature. It’d be a great compliment to Apple Music. Let’s just hope AI doesn’t eventually ruin it.