Google App Enhances Song Search with History Shortcut

Google’s music identification feature, commonly known as Song Search, has received a significant upgrade, offering users a convenient and easily accessible history of their past searches. This enhancement, currently available within the Google app for iOS, addresses a long-standing user request and streamlines the process of revisiting previously identified songs. The new feature introduces a dedicated history shortcut directly within the Song Search interface, allowing users to quickly review their recent musical discoveries.

This improvement is a welcome addition for music enthusiasts who frequently utilize the Song Search functionality to identify unfamiliar tunes encountered in various environments. Whether you’re listening to music in a café, at a friend’s house, or during a television commercial, Song Search provides a quick and reliable way to pinpoint the song title and artist. The ability to easily access a history of these searches eliminates the frustration of forgetting a previously identified song and having to rely on memory or external note-taking.

The accessibility of the Song Search history is not limited to iOS users. While the shortcut is integrated into the Google app for iOS, the underlying data is accessible to anyone with a Google account through a web browser. This ensures that users on other platforms, such as Android or desktop computers, can also benefit from the feature.

The implementation on iOS is particularly intuitive. When initiating a Song Search within the Google app, a new history button is prominently displayed in the top-right corner of the screen. Tapping this button navigates the user to a dedicated "Recent Song Searches" page. This page presents a chronological list of the user’s last ten Song Search results, providing a quick overview of their recent musical explorations.

Each entry in the "Recent Song Searches" list is presented as a visually appealing card. These cards typically include the album artwork of the identified song (when available), the song title, the artist’s name, and the timestamp indicating when the search was performed. This information allows users to quickly identify the desired song without having to rely solely on memory.

Tapping on a specific card within the "Recent Song Searches" page redirects the user to a standard Google Search results page for the selected song. This page includes the song’s Knowledge Panel, providing additional information such as lyrics, music videos, and links to various music streaming services. This seamless integration allows users to quickly access more in-depth information about the identified song and explore related content.

Beyond the "Recent Song Searches" page, Google provides access to a comprehensive history of all Song Searches performed by the user. At the bottom of the "Recent Song Searches" page, a "Show Full History" button is available. Tapping this button opens the user’s Google My Activity page, specifically filtered to display only Song Search entries.

The My Activity page provides a detailed chronological record of all Song Searches performed by the user, potentially spanning several years. In the reviewer’s case, the history extended back to 2017. This comprehensive record allows users to revisit even the earliest of their musical discoveries. Notably, newer entries within the My Activity history include the original audio input used during the Song Search. This provides an additional layer of context and may be helpful in cases where the identified song is similar to other songs.

For users who prefer direct access to their Song Search history, Google provides a direct link to the My Activity page with the Song Search filter pre-applied. This link, myactivity.google.com/myactivity?product=17, allows users to bypass the "Recent Song Searches" page and jump directly to their complete Song Search history.

While the introduction of the history shortcut is a significant improvement, there is still room for further refinement. The current implementation requires users to initiate a Song Search before accessing the history shortcut. A more intuitive approach would be to provide a direct shortcut to the history within the Google app’s Saved tab or another easily accessible location. This would allow users to quickly browse their Song Search history without having to first perform a new search.

The reviewer also notes that Song Search activity is already logged within the user’s My Activity under the category "Listened to unrecognized song." Therefore, the primary benefit of this update is the more prominent and easily accessible shortcut to this pre-existing data.

Overall, the addition of the Song Search history shortcut is a valuable enhancement to the Google app’s music identification capabilities. It streamlines the process of revisiting previously identified songs and provides users with a comprehensive record of their musical discoveries. While there is room for further improvement in terms of accessibility and discoverability, this update represents a significant step forward in making Song Search a more user-friendly and powerful tool for music enthusiasts.