YouTube introduces new feature to find songs by Humming

YouTube has quietly rolled out its “hum-to-search” feature, allowing users to locate a song simply by humming it, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

The handy tool was reported to be in beta back in May for Android users and has now rolled out to select subscribers on both iOS and Android.

After going to the search bar on YouTube Music, users will spot a new waveform icon.

Tap it and the app will start listening to whatever the person hums, sings, or even whistles. The feature is reportedly even able to decipher a track being played live on an instrument.

Once identified, YouTube will pull up the song, along with details like the artist, cover art, and the year it was released.

While hum-to-search is lauded as pulling from YouTube’s library of over 100 million tracks, the tool isn’t foolproof. Some previously reported that while in beta, it was able to pick up popular tracks but more niche songs were misidentified.

Those interested in humming into their phone have to be subscribed to YouTube Music to access the feature and even then, it’s only being offered to select subscribers at the moment.