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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
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The verdict on

Shazam

65
User verdict / 100 High confidence Divided

Shazam remains a highly popular and generally effective app for identifying music, but recent user reviews indicate a decline in accuracy, persistent issues with Apple Music integration, and a noticeable drop in performance for less popular or live music R7R15R128.

4.9★ lifetime (8,738,314) Free to download since 2019 by Apple Inc. updated 0.3 mo ago recent negative 17% 120 reviews across 4 regions
Accuracy & Recognition Apple Music Integration Ease of Use & Features Reliability & Performance
5★301
4★16
3★16
2★16
1★51
recent reviews across 4 regions, vs the 4.9★ lifetime average

Shazam is a widely used free app for identifying songs heard in various environments, often praised for its convenience and ability to help users discover new music or recall forgotten tunes R1R3R16. However, recent feedback highlights a significant decrease in song recognition accuracy, particularly for non-mainstream or live performances, and frustration over aggressive promotion of Apple Music R7R15R44R65.

What users like

  • Effectively identifies most songs, helping users discover new music or recall forgotten tracksR1R3R16R18
  • Generally free to use and easy to operateR62R59R58
  • Provides lyrics for identified songsR12

What users complain about

  • Decreased accuracy in identifying songs, frequently returning incorrect results or failing to identify music at allR7R15R19R31
  • Aggressively promotes Apple Music, making it difficult to use with other music services like Spotify or to purchase songs on iTunesR44R45R63R65
  • Struggles to identify less popular, obscure, classical, or live music, and cannot identify humming or singingR15R41R128R136
  • Issues with Siri integration and Apple Watch functionality, including missing app on Watch and welcome messages interrupting useR10R14R66
  • Some users report ads interfering with the app's core function and general navigation difficultiesR8R32
  • Problems with playing identified songs, with some users reporting endless loading or inability to listenR80R112

Latest update · v26.13

What the developer says changed (the verdict above weighs this against what reviewers report):

Thanks for using Shazam! We’re always working hard to make the app faster and better than ever. Update to the most recent version to enjoy the latest and greatest Shazam. Don’t forget to keep your Shazam History safe and in sync between your devices. Simply turn on iCloud sync in Shazam Settings. Love the app? Rate us! Your feedback is music to our ears, and it helps us make Shazam even better. Got a question? Visit support.shazam.com.

Recurring themes

Accuracy & Recognition negative
Many recent reviews indicate a significant decline in Shazam's ability to accurately identify songs, frequently returning incorrect titles, failing to recognize music, or struggling with less popular genres, live performances, or low-decibel audio. This contradicts the app's historical reputation for high accuracy.R7R15R19R31
Apple Music Integration negative
Users are frustrated by Shazam's aggressive promotion of Apple Music, which often makes it difficult to link identified songs to other services like Spotify or to purchase them directly from iTunes. This is perceived as a forced integration that degrades the user experience for those not subscribed to Apple Music.R44R45R63R65
Ease of Use & Features mixed
While many users still find Shazam 'nice and handy' and 'easy to use', recent complaints include navigation difficulties, intrusive ads, issues with Siri integration, and the disappearance of the Apple Watch app. Some users also desire features like direct playlist integration or improved humming/singing recognition.R3R8R10R14
Reliability & Performance negative
Beyond accuracy, users report issues with the app's overall reliability, including songs not playing from the library, Bluetooth connectivity problems, and the app failing to work as advertised. The developer's notes mention making the app 'faster and better,' but these issues persist in recent reviews.R15R80R87R112

Who it's for

Shazam is for users who frequently encounter music they want to identify and are primarily interested in mainstream or popular songs . It is particularly useful for those who use Apple Music or are willing to navigate around its strong integration . It is not recommended for users who primarily listen to obscure, classical, or live music, or those who prefer other streaming services and are easily frustrated by aggressive in-app promotions R15R41R65.

Evidence note: The recent reviews skew significantly more negative than the lifetime rating, with a strong consensus on declining accuracy and issues with Apple Music integration. While many positive reviews praise the app's core function, they are often less detailed or focused on the historical performance rather than recent changes. The developer's notes are generic and do not address specific complaints about accuracy or Apple Music integration.

Frequently asked

Has Shazam's song recognition accuracy declined recently?
Yes, many recent reviews indicate a significant decline in Shazam's accuracy, with users reporting it frequently identifies the wrong song, fails to recognize music, or struggles with less popular, classical, or live performances R7R15R19R35.
Does Shazam integrate well with other music streaming services like Spotify?
No, recent reviews suggest Shazam aggressively promotes Apple Music, making it difficult to link identified songs to other services like Spotify or to purchase them easily from iTunes R44R45R63R65.
Can Shazam identify humming or singing?
No, according to recent reviews, Shazam is not capable of identifying songs from humming or singing, even for well-known tracks R41R225.
Is the Shazam app available for Apple Watch?
Some users report that the Shazam app for Apple Watch has disappeared or has issues with welcome messages interrupting its use, despite it being a previously available feature R14R66.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R1] 5/5 · US BEST WEBSITE FOR SONGS: Thanks to this app I can find my song that I have in mind
  2. [R3] 5/5 · US Nice and handy: Great to get an artist for a song you heard but don’t know the artist
  3. [R16] 5/5 · US Appreciation!: It is so nice to have a way to help remember names of songs!!!
  4. [R18] 5/5 · US Amazing app: I love Shazam so much it helped me find the song that my dad sang to me when I was little and it just brought me closer to him after he died I would love to thank Shazam for bringing another memory of him back into my life
  5. [R62] 5/5 · GB Best App: I love this app. FREE, easy to use, no issues and best of all no adds. Keep being amazing Shazam. Best app ever 🤗
  6. [R59] 5/5 · GB Love it: It's just great
  7. [R58] 5/5 · GB Love it.: Always great to use.
  8. [R12] 5/5 · US I like it.: It gets most of the songs I put in to identify. Giving me the lyrics is a big plus too. I recommend this app.
  9. [R7] 2/5 · US What happened to Shazam: Shazam used to be great at identifying songs 90-95% of the time. If it didn’t know the answer it would tell me it couldn’t identify the song but something changed. I’m guessing it can identify songs correctly maybe 50-60% of the time. What’s really frustrating is when Shazam says it identified the songs by and it’s completely wrong. I knew the artist but wanted to find the
  10. [R15] 1/5 · US CANT PICK UP ANY TUNES: I try to pick up tunes in a cafe and it seems SoundHound outperforms when music is a played at a lower decibel…I’m also impressed with another app that is able to pick up tunes at a low decibel. Apple, maybe implement Ai into Shazam to help with improving/enhancing the experience.
  11. [R19] 2/5 · US Poor: Just did a song 3 times 3 different results
  12. [R31] 2/5 · US Mr: Wrong songs
  13. [R44] 2/5 · US Good but annoying: Works great but very annoying if you don't have Apple music. The constant nagging and begging to sign up for Apple Music makes me want to use something else. If I've already declined the offer for the 49th time.. F off🤷🏿
  14. [R45] 1/5 · US Sidebar: Always trying to make me buy Apple Music I don’t want it, don’t even try to tempt me.
  15. [R63] 1/5 · GB Problematic: Always a problem with it!! Not helped by Apple forcing Apple Music options when you prefer and use Spotify over Apple Music!
  16. [R65] 1/5 · GB stupid app: show so many music wrong, also just wants to make money from users by push u to use apple music , if u didnt , they show u wrong all the songs or guide u by wrong singer names , wrong dj, or wrong title, i dont prefer this app
  17. [R41] 1/5 · US worst app ever: bruh this app literally cant do anything i hummed it a song, sang the lyrics and tried it in different genres so it could understand and it didnt. I literally hummed it bad romance by lady gaga and it couldnt detect the song, i hummed it trap house by fetty wap and it didnt know I LITERALLY SANG FOR HALF A MINTUE OF LYRICS TO POKER FACE AND IT COULDNT DECECT THE SONG IM PRETTY SUR
  18. [R128] 3/5 · GB Jack Frost: Such a unique concept of identifying track with just one tap. So far, you have not been able to identify just one track out of umpteen pieces of music. Truthfully , that was an obscure one, so you’re forgiven! Thank you. Edit: 9 Dec 2025: Lately, Shazam has been getting the wrong songs often.
  19. [R136] 2/5 · GB Is there a better alternative: Not very good if you like reggae music
  20. [R10] 1/5 · US Erratic and inadequate Siri integration: When triggered from Siri Gives out the diff song titles and I cannot look back later in the library :(
  21. [R14] 3/5 · US iWatch?: Where did the iWatch app go??? · translated
  22. [R66] 2/5 · GB Annoying Apple Watch update: Set up a button shortcut on Apple Watch for recognition. After the latest update I had to tap on a welcome message and lost a few songs because I usually Shazam while I dance without looking at the watch. I don’t want to deal with welcome messages for an app I used for years, I just want to find the songs I’m dancing to while I’m dancing
  23. [R8] 1/5 · US What did you do!?!?: Made awful changes can’t navigate. Complete fail from what it was the last 5 years. Deleted!
  24. [R32] 1/5 · US Doesn’t work and has no support: For awhile, this app worked as advertised. Lately I’ve gotten interference from the advertising. I hear a song that I want information on, open Shazam and automatically an ad pops up that insists I respond to it before the app does anything else. Once I respond to the app, it drops me into the last identified song on hold. Now I have to close that window to get the
  25. [R80] 1/5 · GB Doesn’t work: When I try to play the songs in my library it just keeps loading and doesn’t play, Please fix this.
  26. [R112] 1/5 · GB I can’t listen to anything: Shazam is not playing any music
  27. [R87] 1/5 · GB Terrible: I paid for this a long time ago and now it is not working
  28. [R35] 3/5 · US wrong song: More and more wrong songs!
  29. [R225] 3/5 · CA It can’t do my humming: It’s good at background music and just music that I don’t know but it would be cool if it humming and also singing would work

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store