Google Pixel phones could get a cool free upgrade which music fans will love

There's nothing more frustrating than hearing a great song but not being quick enough to Shazam it and find the name. Often, it will rattle around in your head for ages, tormenting you, until you try Googling a handful of vaguely remembered lyrics in the hope of finding it again.

That's where the Pixel phones have an edge. Models like the latest Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 7 Pro – but even handsets as far back as the Google Pixel 3 – have a feature called Now Playing. This allows your Pixel phone to listen in to the world around you, picking out songs it hears and giving you a notification with the details.

Users can take it even further. The catalogue of songs played around you is held in the app, and users can manually add tracks that it couldn't find automatically, and favourite the ones they liked the most. From there, you can also open the track in your music streaming service of choice.

And it looks like it's getting another update. As reported by 9to5Google, a new Summary tab has been spotted, which will offer stats on the music played around you. Users will be able to see which songs, artists and genres are played around them most often, as well as what time of day they most often hear music.

The whole thing has a very Spotify Wrapped feel – albeit without the Insta-worthy graphics. Unlike Wrapped, though, Now Playing is constantly available, offering rolling stats every 30 days.

Right now, it's unclear where the new feature will debut. With Google I/O just around the corner, it seems likely that we could catch a glimpse there, whether it debuts on Android 14, or as a feature on new handsets like the Google Pixel Fold or the Google Pixel 7a.

Whenever it comes, though, I'm sold. As a music lover, I'm constantly frustrated by being unable to remember the songs I have heard in shops and bars. Having a database of those to sift through could completely do away with those annoying searches.

The Summary tab is interesting. Some users won't care about tracking what they've heard on their travels, but others will be intrigued by the stats. Sure, I doubt anyone will be checking in on it everyday, but it's still a cool addition.