Google Assistant can finally recognize songs

One of Google Assistant‘s more glaring omissions since its debut in 2016 was the inability to identify songs. Some semblance of that functionality arrived with the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, but it looks like the feature is finally rolling out to Android smartphones.

If you want Google Assistant to identify a song, you can ask “What song is this?” or something along those lines to have Google‘s virtual assistant start listening. Once the song is identified, Google Assistant presents you with a small info card that contains some lyrics, the artist, the album, when it was released, and what genre the song belongs to.

The info card also contains embedded links to listen to the song through YouTube and Google Play Music, as well as an embedded link to search the song on Google.

Alternatively, Google Assistant has “What’s this song?” as a suggestion in the carousel of choices. You will need to have voice set as the preferred input in settings for that option to pop up. Interestingly, when I tried this on my Pixel XL, it did not pop up at first and took an extra second or two for the option to pop up.

I am not sure how widely available the new feature is, but as with all things Google when it comes to software, it might take a few days until the rollout finishes. It should also be noted that I am using the English version of Google Assistant and am located in the US, so that could affect whether the ability to identify songs works for you or not.