Podbit · Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast
Google's ability to identify a song you hum or mumble is one of those ambient computing features that quietly became indispensable. It replaced two competing apps — Shazam and SoundHound — and is now so seamlessly built into Android that Pixel phones can identify playing music without you even asking.
Where this was said
At 2:24 · chapter starts 1:42
Andrew opens with a genuine moment of appreciation for a feature most people forget exists: Google's ability to identify a song from a hummed or mumbled melody, accessible by tapping the mic in the search bar. He's used it roughly every six months — his search history confirms December, May, and January hits — and it works almost every time. The crew traces the lineage back to a pre-acquisition world where Shazam and SoundHound competed fiercely, with SoundHound having the edge at identifying hum-based searches — exactly the capability Google now owns natively. Marques notes this is a textbook 'Sherlocked' story: both apps are now redundant. David adds that younger users might not even associate the Shazam name with song recognition — they're more likely to think of the superhero film. Andrew floats a video idea: a tier list of phone gimmicks that either became essential features or died quietly.
Andrew uses Google's hum-to-search feature roughly every six months and finds it reliably identifies songs he can only hum or mumble.
Andrew floats the idea of tier-listing phone gimmicks — features that seemed like marketing stunts at launch but became genuinely useful over time. Instant candidates include the Pixel's ambient music detection, Samsung's privacy screen, and the LG Soli radar and vein ID sensors, which land firmly in F-tier.
David noted that for several years, each new Pixel launch brought a meaningfully new ambient computing feature that quietly became part of daily life. That era has ended, and no competitor has replaced it — a loss that mostly went unmourned because it happened gradually.
Sam had no coding knowledge, so he used ChatGPT voice mode to generate his entire codebase and copy-pasted it into Notepad. A friend later introduced him to Cursor, and he never looked back.
Copy days of Discord chat history, paste it into ChatGPT, and ask it to list recurring pain points. The ones that come up most often are your best product bets.
Sam's top advice: when prompting Cursor, tell it to architect code for 100,000 users from day one. The AI changes its approach, building scalable frameworks instead of brittle one-user code.
With AI coding tools like Cursor, Bhanu replicates an existing free tool for a new keyword in under 5 minutes. What used to be a multi-day build is now a lunch-break task.
Ahrefs, SiteGPT, Cal.com, PostHog, Datafast, Sibyl AI, Bento, Feather, Featurepace, Mintlify, Cloud Code, ChartMogul — Bhanu runs his entire business solo with these 12 tools.
PropGPT runs on React Native with TypeScript and Python for ML, Neon for the database, RevenueCat and Superwall for monetization. LLM costs are $20/month, data APIs $100/month, and after $10K in monthly marketing spend, margins sit at roughly 50%.
Game apps keep users engaged long enough for ads to pay off. Tool apps don't — so if you're building a utility, ads are almost always the wrong call and subscriptions are your only real lever.
Inside SEO Bot, a single button labelled 'Boost My Domain Rating' routes users directly to Listing Bot. That one interaction converts a user of one tool into a user of two — without any marketing cost.
Directory listings are a powerful but underrated growth channel — but only if your product is genuinely interesting enough to earn the click. AI products have a natural advantage here because they're easy to package in a compelling, clickable way.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.