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LATEST ARTICLES

How Does Shazam Work?

Apps
Jason Tate

Shri Khalpada breaking down how Shazam works:

Computers can flip the script. Instead of asking ”which song matches this sequence of sounds?”, the phone asks ”for each of these sounds, which songs contain them?” for each hash in the clip. It’s the same idea as the index at the back of a book: rather than re-reading every page to find a word, you jump to the word’s entry and see every page it lives on. 

This essentially makes the lookup operation O(1)O(1), meaning it takes roughly the same amount of time whether you have 100 songs or 100 million. More precisely, the phone goes straight to each hash’s address rather than scanning through songs, and the number of possible hashes is large enough that each address only contains a handful of entries, even across millions of songs.

Tim Cook Announces Apple CEO Transition

Apple
Jason Tate

Tim Cook has announced he will step down as CEO of Apple:

This is not goodbye. But at this moment of transition, I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you. Not on behalf of the company, this time, though there is a wellspring of gratitude for you that overflows inside our walls. But simply on behalf of me. Tim. A person who grew up in a rural place in a different time and, for these magical moments, got to be the CEO of the greatest company in the world. Thank you for the confidence and kindness you’ve shown me. Thank you for saying hi to me on the street and in our stores. Thank you for cheering alongside me when we unveiled a new product or service. Thank you, most of all, for believing in me to lead the company that has always put you at the center of our work. Every day we get up and think about what we can do to make your life a little bit better. And every day, you’ve made mine the best I could have asked for.

I thought Gruber’s take was good:

Cook has transformed Apple in his own image. The company is much more predictable now than it ever was, or could have been, under Jobs. It now runs on an annual schedule that can be printed on a calendar. There is far less drama, and no scandal. And there is seemingly no drama, at all, in this particular transition, despite the incredibly high stakes and the (justifiably) large egos in Apple’s leadership team.

And while true, the success from a pure dollars and cents standpoint is undeniable, I have felt the “magic” missing from the company for a while now. They still make incredible hardware. I still use macOS every single day (but refuse to update to Tahoe). I am excited to see where John Ternus takes them. And please fix Liquid Glass on macOS, it’s an abomination.

Apple Photo’s (Lack Of) Concert Identification

Apple
Jason Tate

Chris Devers, writing about how Apple Photo’s “concert tagging feature” often fails:

This would be a lot less annoying if Apple provided some basic tools to help out here.

If we could edit the concert event tags, we could fix the problem ourselves. Alas, the tags are added (or not) automatically, and we have no way to control them. Better still, if we could edit the tags to note which artist was performing, that would also help, particularly for events where two or more names were on the lineup. If the software gave greater weight to geotags, that might help. Few events span miles, nevermind dozens of miles, so if the photos are of different places, they shouldn’t be grouped together as the same event.

25 Years of iPod Brain

Jason Tate

Molly Mary O’Brien, writing about the iPod:

I was imputed upon. The first song I played on my iPod was “Anthem Part 2” by Blink-182. It was a favorite song from middle school, and it felt right to begin with a sentimental choice. But it wasn’t long before I was approaching mp3 collecting with an almost deranged reverence for eclecticism. I needed to max out the hardware’s potential. I needed representation from as many genres as possible. Some of this desire came from the UX itself—when I used my thumb to rotate the pale gray click wheel, I felt a strong desire to scroll through a long list of artists, with each letter of the alphabet represented many times over. So Blink-182 got nestled between Black Sabbath and Bloc Party, followed by Billy Joel and Blonde Redhead. 

Some days I really miss the iPod. The simplicity of it. Heading out for a walk with just music, no social media, no communication apps, just some headphones and an empty road.

And when music is pulled from Apple Music … even more so.

Apple Music Unveils New Culver City Studio Space

Jason Tate

Hollywood Reporter:

Apple Music has unveiled a new studio near its Culver City headquarters, an expansive 15,000-square-foot space the streaming service hopes will serve as an all-in-one creative hub where musicians can come for radio interviews, write and record new music, conduct photo shoots and film video content.

Apple Music Studios opens this summer and will serve as the home for some of Apple Music Radio’s marquee programming including the Zane Lowe Show.

Apple Music/UMG Launch “Sound Therapy” Songs

Jason Tate

Variety:

Apple Music, under an exclusive deal with Universal Music Group, is rolling out a collection of instrumental versions of pop songs — crafted based on audio science — that it claims can help you better sleep, relax and focus.

Apple Music’s Sound Therapy collection takes well-known songs and blends in “special sound waves designed to enhance users’ daily routines, while retaining the artist’s original vision,” according to the companies. For example, a “dreamy version of Katy Perry’s ‘Double Rainbow’… could help listeners drift off to sleep.”

Mood Playlist Widgets From Apple Music

Jason Tate

The new version of Apple Music lets you trigger “mood” playlists from control center:

Opening the Music app will continue being the main way most of us interact with Apple Music, but I love what Apple’s doing with iOS 18.4’s new Ambient Music controls. The ability to assign a mood playlist button to your iPhone’s Lock Screen, Action button, or Control Center removes friction from the music playback experience.

Apple Music Opening Catalog to DJs

Jason Tate

Michael Burkhardt, writing at 9to5Mac:

In a statement today, Apple announced that it would be integrating the Apple Music catalog with a number of popular tools, allowing for DJs to create mixes with Apple’s robust catalog. Users will also be able to explore a new DJ with Apple Music page starting today.

With these changes, Apple Music subscribers will be able to mix their own sets using the Apple Music catalog. This integration will be available in some of the leading DJ software and hardware platforms, including AlphaTheta, Serato, Engine DJ, Denon DJ, Numark, RANE DJ, and Algoriddim’s djay Pro software.

Lossless Audio and Ultra‑Low Latency Audio Come to AirPods Max

Jason Tate

Apple:

Next month, a new software update will bring lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio to AirPods Max, delivering the ultimate listening experience and even greater performance for music production. With the included USB-C cable, users can enjoy the highest-quality audio across music, movies, and games, while music creators can experience significant enhancements to songwriting, beat making, production, and mixing.

Vision Pro as Concert Device

Metallica
Jason Tate

M.G. Siegler, reviewing the new Metallica “Apple Immersive” concert (er, three songs) that was released for the Vision Pro:

It’s St. Patrick’s Day, 2025. It’s late, the family is asleep. I grab a beer and head out to watch a rock concert. But by “head out” I mean, put on the Vision Pro. Minutes later, I’m in Mexico City – over 5,000 miles away from my home in London – watching James Hetfield walk up to the stage. I’m right behind him. His cigar smoke wafting in my face. The crowd roars as he emerges into the stadium. 

It felt very close. Very real.

Honestly, I was blown away by the “Apple Immersive” Metallica concert that was released for the Vision Pro this past weekend. I like Metallica – like any red-blooded teenager in the 1990s, I grew up with ”The Black Album” – but I was more of a grunge kid. But my god, Apple (and the band) nailed this experience. It’s only about 30 minutes – just three songs – but I easily could have watched that for another few hours.

I’ve been ho-hum about the Vision Pro, mostly because for that price I see no real need in my life. This kind of immersive concert experience does sound fun though.