If you’ve ever had a song stuck in your head but can’t remember enough lyrics to search for it, Google has a solution: hum to search.
Google unveiled a new search feature Thursday that lets users search for songs by humming a few bars, in an attempt to help you identify music.
The feature is now part of Google’s mobile app and Google Assistant, where you can say “what’s this song?” (add a “Hey Google” first on Google Assistant) and then hum, whistle, or sing for 10 to 15 seconds.
Google said the feature, which was announced along with several other new search-related functions during an online event held by the company, will be available first in English on Apple’s iOS and in over 20 languages on Google’s Android mobile platform.
Hum-to-search isn’t a brand new idea — SoundHound, for instance, offers a hum-recognition feature — though it is new to Google.
Like many of Google’s search offerings, the feature uses machine learning: Essentially, software analyzes the tune you hum (or sing or whistle), turning it into a sequence of digits that can then be compared with tons of digitized songs to find a few that appear similar.
