Get floating lyrics on Android

When you’re jamming out to a song on your Android, sometimes it’s nice to learn the lyrics to sing along. Knowing what the artist is saying can also help you better understand the story (if there is one) that’s being told by the track. However, switching between the music player app and your Web browser to look up the lyrics can get cumbersome if you’re doing it often. Instead, GuidingTech recommends combining the music and lyrics by using MusiXmatch.

Setup

Step 1: Install a copy of MusiXmatch on your Android device. All features are available if you’re using Android 4.1 or higher.

You can play music stored on your device through the mXm app, which will display lyrics (turned on by default). However, if you’re going to use another supported app, continue to Step 2.

Step 2: Slide out the left-hand menu, choose FloatingLyrics, and then tap on your music player of choice. (If you choose an app you do not have installed, you’ll be forwarded to the Google Play store to download and install it.)

Lyrics display in a small, floating window.
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Step 3: Play a song! This example will work with Google Play Music. Lyrics will appear in the transparent window, and sync to your track. You can press and hold on the top edge of the window to move it around.

Extras

FloatingLyrics

Floating Lyrics are minimized.
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You can minimize the window with the arrow in the top left-hand corner. The minimized version will appear as a small bubble that you can move around the screen (like a Facebook Chat Head).

The window can be resized by dragging the arrows in the bottom right-hand corner.

mXm extra menu.
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Tapping the three dots in the top right-hand corner will let you favorite the lyrics, share them, give feedback, display the full version in the mXm app or let you quickly ID music (similar to Shazam or SoundHound).

Karaoke

The Sing mode works like a karaoke machine by stripping away most of the vocals.
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If you’re using the app to play music, you can turn on karaoke mode to sing along. Just start playing a track, tap the three dots in the upper right-hand corner, and choose Sing.

Disabling FloatingLyrics

If you decide that you don’t want to see the lyrics, but want to keep the app for later use, you can do so in just a few taps.

mXm settings area.
Nicole Cozma/CNET

Open the mXm app, slide-out the left-hand menu and head to Settings. Next pick Manage notifications and toggle FloatingLyrics off.

This app offers a great alternative to looking up the lyrics for each song you want to learn. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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