NowPlaying helps identify songs that are playing and new updates mean it's better than ever

Nowplaying Update Feature Wall (Image credit: Modum BV)

What you need to know

NowPlaying has been updated to add some new features.
Music can now be opened in Spotify.
Unlockable icons have been added.

NowPlaying, a popular app that can be used to identify songs that are playing, has been updated to add a raft of new features including additional icons, information on awards a song might have had, and more.

The new app update is available via the App Store and includes a number of improvements. NowPlaying was already a fun way to find the name of a song that was playing, but now it goes further. One feature added recently means that if a song has won an award, the app will tell you whether that was an MTV Music Award, an Apple Music Award, or just about anything else. More awards are set to be added, too.

In addition to that, music lovers can now have the songs open in Spotify for the first time while song lyrics are being pulled from Genius.com and those really into the artform will enjoy seeing which samples are used in a particular song. All of that, and more, has been added to NowPlaying since we last took a look at the app. This latest update also includes:

Unlockable App icons: Unlock 12 different icons by completing assignments (more to come)
You can now open a song in Spotify
Eurovision is added to awards
View Lyrics on Genius.com
You can now see what samples are used in the song you're listening to
Indication if the song you're listening to is a cover
You can now open any song via a Deep-link
Got a story to tell about a song? Let me know!
Kiosk mode: Hides all the buttons (except the stop button)
Auto-dim: Automatically brighten and dim the screen when a new song has been found

Those who already have NowPlaying installed will see the update available to them if they haven't already installed it. Everyone else can download it now. It's free with an in-app purchase.

NowPlaying was already one of the best iPhone apps for identifying songs and now it's better than ever.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.