Music recognition app Shazam has been updated to version 3.5, improving offline support and adding a LyricPlay function. Offline support is improved thanks to support for automatic resubmission of tags (i.e. music to be recognised). Previously, it was necessary to manually resubmit a tag, but this will now happen automatically once a data connection is available, and you'll be notified when the results are available.

LyricPlay, which becomes available after you have atgged a piece of music, offers the ability to show lyrics for the song, synchronized in real-time with the music, as it plays back (i.e. each line is highlighted as it sung). LyricPlay is available for more than 30,000 tracks and is accessed by tapping the LyricPlay icon that appears in the top left-hand corner of album art on the tag screen.

The 3.5 update builds on Shazam's major 3.0 update that was released for Windows Phone 8 at the end of May. It offered a refreshed UI, faster tagging, and support for Shazam's second screen TV experiences (Shazam for TV). As we noted at the time, although Windows Phone has built in support for music recognition, Shazam provides a super experience:

Windows Phone has built in support for Music recognition in the form of Bing (tap the music icon in the Bing app), but Shazam is generally more reliable, able to recognise a greater number of tunes, provides a richer set of information once a piece of music has been recognised, and is available in more markets that the Bing service. It also does a better job of keeping track of previously recognised tracks and sharing these with friends and family.

Windows Phone Store description:

Shazam recognizes music and media playing around you. Tap the Shazam button to instantly tag, and then explore, buy and share. Tagging is unlimited, so use Shazam as much as you want.

What's new in 3.5.0 

• Tag without coverage, Shazam will match when you have a connection
• LyricPlay*: Watch, sing-along to real-time synced lyrics that scroll, jump, pop or slide as the music plays for tens of thousands of Shazam's hottest tagged tracks

Shazam is a free download from the Windows Phone Store. The updated version is only available for Windows Phone 8.