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If you've ever had a song stuck in your head but didn't know the words or the artist, you know it can be an all-consuming mission to name that tune.

You're hard-pressed to search for it when all you know is the chorus goes something like, "Hmmm, hmm, hmm-hmmm, dunnnn..." Yeah, that's not searchable.

But as of Thursday, Google added a "hum to search" feature on its mobile apps. At its virtual Search On event highlighting updates to its search engine, Google execs showed how a few seconds of humming or whistling can turn up real results.

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On an iOS or Android device you can use the Google app, Search widget, or Google Assistant and ask, "What's this song?" and start humming. There's also a "Search a song" button, so click that and then start humming.

The Google app is able to detect the song just by its melody — no lyrics or pitch-perfect singing required. I tried it out with a Spice Girls hit through the Google app on an iPhone and it came back with the correct result:

Hum that song to Google.Credit: sasha lekach / mashableOnly 45 percent, but accurate!Credit: sasha lekach / mashable

Many years ago, song detector apps like SoundHound could also identify a song from a few seconds of humming or off-tune singing. But these days if you open Shazam or a similar audio detection app and hum, say, "Barbie Girl" by Aqua (it was a 1997 classic), it doesn't bring up any results.

SEE ALSO:Shazam is coming to iPhone's control panel soon

With the new Google search function that earworm isn't going anywhere, but at least you'll know what's torturing you.

TopicsArtificial IntelligenceMusic

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