What nice and safe apps are there that I can install on iPhone or Android to identify songs playing from another source? Preferable to have no ads, unlimited use and free of charge.
ANSWER
A few years back when I was in that apps discovery phase on my Android and installing as many as I can even when those apps would hardly ever be used after the first try, I came upon Shazam. Was impressed by it. It was able to ID the songs quite accurately. It sometimes took a while, a few longer seconds, sometimes but it normally was able to pick up and tell me the song title and artist. The sound quality it is listening to also is a factor for proper identification. It did have some success on getting the songs right in a public place, like a bar or a cafe, where music was playing loudly and a lot of other noise around.
There are many sound discovery or music recognition apps out there for both Android and iPhone. I have heard of SoundHound or Musixmatch.
I have not used such apps for a long time. Shazam was free when it came out. No ads then. I might have installed it again years after, and as I recall the UI changed this time with ads too. But I could be wrong. It might have been a different app. SoundHound, Musixmatch and Shazam come with free and paid versions. Whether these apps have limited use for free versions, you can find that out or DON’T.
Try out those 3 apps, OR you don’t really have to go to all the trouble. Google Assistant on Android can do the same magic. Just ask it, “Which song is this?”. Type it or say it. Better the latter. I have done it several times, for example while driving and listening to a local FM radio station.
Apple’s Siri can do the same.