4 ms·

Hm, so is this app running and listening in to the mic constantly? (Also: Extra network traffic and cpu activity.)

by scrrr 12y ago

k-mcgrady 12y ago
I can't say for sure but from reading the description is sounds like it and I'm not downloading it for the reason. They need to make it clear.
coherentpony 12y ago
Of course. How else are Shazam going to make money? They need to listen to you, process the audio using a natural language processing procedure, and then target advertising at you.
- nobody_nowhere 12y ago
  Can confirm that they're pursuing this business model: particularly to see what TV ads you're being exposed to. Coverage from existing sources is panel based with low sample sizes that do not extend well into more targeted research.
unfamiliar 12y ago
Yes, but there is an on/off switch which presumably stops this activity. The energy impact in mavericks while "listening" is hovering around 2 on my machine. For comparison, Safari is at 8.
- coldtea 12y ago
  The difference is Safari is doing something immensily useful, whereas Shazam is a gimmick. That and, constant audio surveillance (even with "an option to turn it off")? No thanks...
bwindels 12y ago
My first thought as well. This could be used as constant surveillance tool if Shazam chose/was forced to shared the uploaded data with GCHQ/NSA </paranoid-theory>
hodgesmr 12y ago
The same statement can be said about the mobile apps. Also, Shazam is now baked into Siri.
- dserodio 12y ago
  AFAIK, the mobile apps only listen to the microphone when the app is open, not in the background
  - hodgesmr 12y ago
    This is incorrect. They added background listening months ago.
    - dserodio 12y ago
      I'm glad they haven't added this creepy feature to Android yet
  - dan1234 12y ago
    They can listen in the background and Shazam will do this if you enable Automatic mode, though the iOS status bar turns red while the microphone is being accessed by a backgrounded app.

Hm, so is this app running and listening in to the mic constantly? (Also: Extra network traffic and cpu activity.)

by scrrr 12y ago

Hm, so is this app running and listening in to the mic constantly? (Also: Extra network traffic and cpu activity.)

I can't say for sure but from reading the description is sounds like it and I'm not downloading it for the reason. They need to make it clear.

coherentpony 12y ago

Of course. How else are Shazam going to make money? They need to listen to you, process the audio using a natural language processing procedure, and then target advertising at you.

nobody_nowhere 12y ago
Can confirm that they're pursuing this business model: particularly to see what TV ads you're being exposed to. Coverage from existing sources is panel based with low sample sizes that do not extend well into more targeted research.

unfamiliar 12y ago

Yes, but there is an on/off switch which presumably stops this activity. The energy impact in mavericks while "listening" is hovering around 2 on my machine. For comparison, Safari is at 8.

coldtea 12y ago
The difference is Safari is doing something immensily useful, whereas Shazam is a gimmick. That and, constant audio surveillance (even with "an option to turn it off")? No thanks...

bwindels 12y ago

My first thought as well. This could be used as constant surveillance tool if Shazam chose/was forced to shared the uploaded data with GCHQ/NSA </paranoid-theory>

hodgesmr 12y ago

The same statement can be said about the mobile apps. Also, Shazam is now baked into Siri.

dserodio 12y ago
AFAIK, the mobile apps only listen to the microphone when the app is open, not in the background
- hodgesmr 12y ago
  This is incorrect. They added background listening months ago.
  - dserodio 12y ago
    I'm glad they haven't added this creepy feature to Android yet
- dan1234 12y ago
  They can listen in the background and Shazam will do this if you enable Automatic mode, though the iOS status bar turns red while the microphone is being accessed by a backgrounded app.