Emily Irish

NowPlaying: A Musical Encyclopedia Connected to Apple Music

Discovering tracks with Shazam is no more wonder. But what about learning more about the songs that play in just a blink? NowPlaying, an Apple Music-based app by an independent developer, does the trick by sharing everything about the music you’re listening to.

Who is the performer of the song that you are listening to? When was it recorded? And was it officially recorded at all, or are there just bootlegs? When was it written and published? Is it an original track, a cover version, or a remix? Any other interesting facts about it? Spend some time with NowPlaying, and you’ll become the winner on any musical quiz you play! Unless your rivals installed it earlier.

Though the app requires access to your Apple Music account, it recognizes the music that’s currently played from other sources as well. It’s the Shazam algorithms that enable this feature. With Apple Music, you can quickly add the songs you recognize to your library.

Among other pros of this app, there is probably the best visualization around, because the app uses colors of the track/album cover in its current theme, changing them along with tracks. This makes this app the perfect display for the music you play, even if you have already saved it in your library and play it now from that very playlist on Apple Music via your HomePod or whatever speaker you prefer.

As for now, NowPlaying is only available for iOS 15.0 and iPadOS 15.0 (or above) for $1.99. Not that much, given how much this app knows about music and represents it to you in an easily readable form. This app is certainly worth some attention from all the music fans who happen to be also Apple users.

Are you a music fan with an iPhone? Have you tried NowPlaying, or are you good with Shazam and Apple Music? Does the story of your favorite music matter for you? Let’s share our stories about music in the comments!