Shazam iPhone app updated, may herald future services integrated into Apple Music

The Apple-owned Shazam service has updated its app for the first time since the aquisition, and has added lyric syncing in real-time to a played song, better search results display, and an all-new track menu providing access to all the information the service has.

The new Lyric-syncing feature allows users to see a song's lyrics in real time, while a song or video is playing. Users who have found a song with Shazam now have streamlined options to add the song to an Apple Music or Spotify playlist as well.

With the new update, when a user uses Shazam to find a song, they get the results and one big photo of the artist behind the results that can be tapped for more info. The company calls the addition "perfect for focusing on the music you were looking to discover in the first place."

Spotify already has a lyric-syncing feature. Apple Music provides lyrics, but there is no "bouncing ball" or similar indicator for users to follow along as the song progresses.

The Shazam app is free, requires iOS 9 or greater, and occupies 109MB of storage space.

New Apple acquisition Shazam launched its service in 2002 in the UK under the name "2580." The U.S. version launched in 2004 as a pay-per-call service but is now generally free for smartphone users.