Make Shazam work better — upgrade your iPhone's music discovery tool with quick launch, lyrics info, and song info all without opening the app

(Image credit: Future. / Apple)

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Shazam is one of the best iPhone apps and is used by millions of people around the world on a daily basis. The music app helps you find songs you hear in public places, allowing you to add them to your music library — it’s a tried and tested platform that has become pivotal to a lot of music lover’s lives.

But the Shazam app on iOS is a bit barebones and it can often be frustrating for users of other platforms like Spotify or anything that isn’t Apple Music. When you launch Shazam on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, for example, the song’s title is shown within the Dynamic Island. Yet, tapping the title brings you into the Shazam app which then requires you to click through to your streaming service of choice.

But what if I were to tell you that there’s a way to supercharge Shazam and make it work better? Shazam++, a fantastic shortcut that plays very nicely with the best iPhones and their Dynamic Island, is the best way to use Shazam and I’m here to show you how to set it up and why you should in the first place.

Shazam++

Shazam++ is the best version of Shazam you’ll find right now. It’s a shortcut that works just as you’d expect, but after the platform has determined the song you’re listening to it gives you access to loads of options you don’t get with the standard app.

Owners of the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max, get a full menu of options to choose from directly within the Dynamic Island after listening to a tune. If you own an older iPhone model you can access the same menu but you must launch it from the Shortcuts app. From sharing the song directly with friends, finding lyrics, or simply launching it directly within Spotify without any friction, Shazam++ makes Shazam work much better than its stock version.

To install Shazam++ you just need to add the shortcut via this link and activate it via the Shortcuts app or the Action button on the newer iPhones while a song is playing. From there you’ll see Shazam++ work its magic — I guarantee after one use you’ll be wondering why the stock Shazam app doesn’t work in exactly the same way.

John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself. Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings. John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019. John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit.