Google launches Sound Search for Android users

The widget, which can be installed on an Android device's home screen can identify and even purchase a piece of music being played on the radio, in a store or on the street.

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The widget, which can be installed on an Android device's home screen can identify and even purchase a piece of music being played on the radio, in a store or on the street.

Available to download from the Google Play store, the widget works with Android devices running versions 4.0 and above and is currently limited to the US market.

According to a post on the official Android blog 'Sometimes, you hear a song you like while you're out and about but don't want to download it right at that moment. The Sound Search widget syncs across all of your devices, so that song you recognized with your phone in the coffee shop can be quickly purchased from your tablet at home.'

As well as being able to install the feature on a smartphone or tablet's home screen, users lucky enough to have a device that runs Jellybean 4.2, the latest version of Android, can install it on the lock screen, making access to the service even easier.

And while Sound Search may benefit from seamless operating system integration and from being a free-to-download app, it is by no means the only or best music recognition app on the market for either Android or iPhone users.

Shazam, which started life as an SMS service -- a user would call a number, hold their feature phone up to a speaker and then receive a text message identifying the song in question, is now a fully fledged free app that can identify a track, stream its lyrics and even poinit you in the direction of where it is available to download for free.

Meanwhile, SoundHound has long been one of the most popular Android apps for music recognition, and while it comes at a price ($5.99) it is even capable of identifying a song from someone humming it or attempting to sing it.