NowPlaying 2027: A smarter way to discover music

NowPlaying has worked with Siri and Shortcuts for years. With our latest update, those conversations feel much more natural.

On iOS 27, NowPlaying speaks the same music language as Apple Intelligence and Siri AI. Songs, albums, artists, playback, your library, Favourites, and music recognition are all described in a way the system understands. You can ask for what you want without first building a Shortcut or memorising one exact phrase.

Siri is only the start. Point your camera at a record and NowPlaying can find it from the barcode on the back or the artwork on the front. Once it is open, Apple’s Foundation Models turn the details NowPlaying has found into quick summaries and small stories.

The shortcuts you already know are still here, so you can start SongDisplay, play Album of the Day, scrobble a song, and ask for the story behind whatever is playing.

Ask for music naturally

The biggest change is also the simplest to use. Ask Siri to use NowPlaying for everyday music actions.

Try requests like:

• “Play Blue by Joni Mitchell with NowPlaying.”
• “Add this song to my library in NowPlaying.”
• “Favourite this song in NowPlaying.”
• “What song is this? Use NowPlaying.”

NowPlaying can play a song, album, or artist, add songs and albums to your Apple Music library, add or remove a song from Favourites, and catch music playing nearby. Recognition results appear as a rich card with the song and artwork, so you can see the match as soon as Siri finds it.

Siri knows what “this” means

Some of the best requests start with one small word: this.

When you have a song, album, or artist open in NowPlaying, the app shares that onscreen context with the system. Siri can understand what you’re looking at without making you repeat the title or artist name.

Open an album and say, “Play this album in NowPlaying.” Open a song and ask, “Add this song to my library,” or “Favourite this song.” It feels less like entering a command and more like continuing the thought you already had.

This also makes follow-up requests more useful. You can find a song, open it in NowPlaying, then ask for another action while it is still on screen.

Ten shortcuts, ready to go

Alongside the new Apple Intelligence music actions, NowPlaying includes ten ready-made shortcuts. Ask Siri to run one by name, without opening the app:

• Listen for music catches whatever is playing nearby.
• Play Daily Album starts today’s Album of the Day.
• Show Song opens a song you name.
• View Details tells you more about the current song.
• Song Display starts or stops a SongDisplay session.
• Scan Barcode opens the album scanner.
• Save to Library adds the current song to your music library.
• Favourite Song adds the current song to Favourites.
• Open URL opens an Apple Music link in NowPlaying.
• Scrobble Song sends the current song to Last.fm.

View Details can go deeper with awards, recording locations, collaborators, liner notes, samples, release dates, and why a song might sound familiar. Siri can read the answer aloud and show artwork, maps, or awards where they help.

You will find even more actions in the Shortcuts app. Build your own shortcut to download the current song’s artwork at the size you choose, or start SongDisplay directly in Kiosk Mode for a clean, button-free listening display.

Point at an album

Siri is not the only way to start. Sometimes you have a record in your hands, an album cover on a wall, or a screenshot someone sent you. NowPlaying can begin with the thing in front of you.

Open the scanner in NowPlaying and point it at an album:

• Scan the barcode on the back of a record or CD. NowPlaying reads it and looks for the matching album.
• Scan the artwork when the barcode is missing, hidden, or out of reach. NowPlaying works out the album and artist from the cover, then finds the match in the music catalog.

The scan checks for a barcode first because it is the most exact clue. When there is no barcode, the artwork becomes the clue instead. Either way, you land on the same album page with the story, songs, credits, awards, and places to listen.

You can open the scanner from Search, add Scan Album Barcode to Control Center or the Lock Screen, or ask Siri to “Scan barcode with NowPlaying.”

Scan with Visual Intelligence

Visual Intelligence takes album scanning outside the app. Where Visual Intelligence is available, point its camera at a cover or select one in a screenshot. NowPlaying can appear as a matching result, ready to open the album.

Behind the scenes, Visual Intelligence passes what you chose to NowPlaying. The same scan checks for a readable barcode and, when there is not one, looks at the artwork. Tap the NowPlaying result and you go straight to the album page instead of typing the artist and title yourself.

That makes NowPlaying useful in more places: a record shop, a friend’s shelf, a poster on the street, or an album shared in a group chat.

More story, less scrolling

Finding the album is only the beginning. NowPlaying brings together liner notes, awards, recording locations, credits, release details, and plenty more. Apple Intelligence makes all of that easier to take in.

Using Apple’s on-device Foundation Models, NowPlaying creates short summaries of songs, albums, and artists from the details it has already found. Instead of starting with a wall of text, you get the shape of the story in a couple of sentences and can keep digging when something catches your ear.

The same on-device intelligence appears across the app:

• SongDisplay insights turn the current song’s details into small, grounded facts that rotate while you listen.
• Search suggestions help turn a half-formed idea into something you can look for.
• Song Story brings the important details together as one flowing narrative designed to be read aloud with VoiceOver.

The model is asked to stick to the facts NowPlaying provides. It is there to make those details easier to explore, not to invent a new story about the music.

Find the tempo and key

NowPlaying 2027 can listen more closely to the music itself. It analyses a song to find its tempo and musical key, then adds both to the song page.

Open Tempo & key and you get more than two numbers. Start the built-in metronome to feel each beat through matched haptics and hear a click tuned to the song’s key. It is handy when you want to play along, keep time, or work out what makes a song move.

Give it a try

Update NowPlaying, put on a favourite album, and ask Siri about it. Start with “Tell me about this song with NowPlaying,” then follow wherever the liner notes take you.

Music, made more fun. Now with fewer taps.

Get NowPlaying