YouTube tests new search feature where users hum to identify songs

YouTube experiments with new humming search feature to help identify songs on Android devices

YouTube is experimenting with a new search feature on Android devices that will help users determine the song they hum. The company said that the search-by-song capability on the Android version of the app will identify a song by humming, singing or recording a song.

Users who alrready have access to the feature can use it from YouTube's voice search by singing or recording a song for three seconds or more. The platform after identifying the song will direct the user to relevant YouTube videos featuring the searched song, or its official music video or related shorts.

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According to the company's support page, the feature is available to only a small portion of Android users, but if it rolls out widely, the feature might become a new step ahead of Shazam.

Google introduced a similar feature in 2020, on the Google Search widget and Google Assistant, but the feature required users to hum for 10-15 seconds to identify songs. YouTube's feature is built on machine learning models that can match a person’s hum to a song’s “fingerprint” or signature melody.