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Available on Pixel devices for nearly a decade, the Now Playing tool that automatically identifies songs playing nearby has finally received an upgrade users have wanted for years: the ability to browse the song history log right from a dedicated app interface. Google turned the Now Playing feature into a standalone app that shows songs previously identified by Now Playing. The feature does more than track music played nearby; it also lets you quickly find the tracks it has identified for you recently on your favorite music streaming service. That catchy song of the summer you heard while visiting Europe will be available in the Now Playing app, so you can listen to it on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, or another streaming service.

The Now Playing app works similarly to the Shazam app, one of the brands owned by Apple, which also keeps a history of all the music tracks it has identified over time. The difference is that iPhone users have had access to Shazam history via the Shazam standalone app for years. Once Now Playing is on, the feature will automatically identify songs in the background on Pixel phones, without requiring another manual search. The standalone app will list those songs chronologically.

The Now Playing process happens entirely on-device. Google developed a machine learning algorithm that creates a small audio fingerprint and compares it against a localized database of thousands of songs. That database is regularly updated to include new tracks. Now Playing works without an internet connection or sending data to Google servers.

Google rolled out the new Now Playing app in March 2026 as part of the larger Pixel Drop, which brought new features to Pixel devices. Now Playing is an optional standalone app that users must download from Google Play to start browsing their history. Once downloaded, the app will let users browse the history log, save favorites, and remove items. Users will be able to play their favorites from the Now Playing history on their chosen music streaming services. You'll have to tap the Settings menu to connect a music service to the app.

Google launched the original Now Playing feature with the Pixel 2 devices, and it's been available on all Pixel models launched since then. However, the standalone Now Playing app will not work with all Pixel models released since 2017. Users will need a Pixel 6 or later running the March 2026 Pixel Drop software update to install and use the Now Playing app. Since Now Playing is an exclusive Pixel feature, the Now Playing app will not be available on other Android phones or iPhones.

Just like the original Now Playing feature, the standalone app primarily works passively on-device. However, the app will also connect to the cloud to find a song that's not in your phone's database or request more information about the track. Google states in a support document that Now Playing protects users' privacy by using "privacy-preserving analytics."

The downside of the Now Playing feature, as it was launched in 2017, is that it tries to identify all the songs playing in your vicinity. Automatic identification might not be necessary, as you may recognize many of your favorite songs. Also, the more songs the Now Playing feature identifies, the larger the Now Playing app's history log will be. Now that the standalone app exists, users can disable the Now Playing feature to prevent it from automatically cataloging music and use the Now Playing app to identify only the new tracks when they play nearby.

This manual approach allows users to better curate their Now Playing history and ensure that the app logs only the songs they're specifically interested in. In other words, Now Playing would work like the Shazam app on iPhone, which can log only the tracks you search for manually when Auto Shazam is turned off. To search for songs in the Now Playing app, you can tap the screen to start a new search or use the Now Playing option in Quick Settings. A widget and a lock screen shortcut are also available to Pixel users for quick Now Playing searches.