How to Stop Apple Music From Automatically Playing

February 1, 2023

Most of the time, Apple Music users usually experience issues with Apple Music playing automatically. When users of the popular streaming platform get into their cars, Apple Music starts playing music on its own.

Others discovered that the same issue affected their iPad, AirPods, headphones, or iPhones.

One of the most well-known music streaming services, Apple Music, has millions of songs. Due to the Autoplay feature's default activation, it will play your playlists, albums, songs, and related music after a song has finished playing.

If you're looking for how to turn off Apple Music auto play, this article will help you with that. We discuss many ways to stop Apple Music from playing automatically on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac and fixes for Apple Music playing automatically in cars.

How to Stop Apple Music From Automatically Playing On iPhone

Your Apple Music library's songs will always play unless you set it differently in the iOS Music app. It can be annoying if you only want to hear a single song or an entire album before continuing your day.

The following explains how to stop Apple Music from playing songs automatically on your iPhone:

Turn off Apple Music Auto Play

After all the songs in an album or playlist have finished playing, the Apple Music feature, Autoplay, will play music from your collection or random music. The Autoplay icon looks like an infinity symbol, so you can look out for that symbol when you try to turn it off.

When you've finished your songs, though, you sometimes want to stop. You can turn this function off to fix the issue if Apple Music starts playing automatically on any device.

How to disable Autoplay in Apple Music is explained here and applies to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch:

  1. Select a song in the Music app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. After clicking on the mini player, tap on "up next" and look for the Autoplay icon (the infinity symbol).
  3. To turn off the Autoplay feature when it is turned on, tap the Autoplay icon.
  4. The Autoplay playlist should instantly disappear if the process is successful, and Apple Music will stop playing music on its own.

Aside from the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, Apple has other products such as the MacBook. Turning off Autoplay on MacBook is not too different, and you can follow these instructions to get it done:

  1. Open the Apple Music app on your Mac, then choose a song to play.
  2. To load the "Playing Next" playlist, click the "Up Next" icon from the Playing Now box. Up next will show you upcoming songs.
  3. To disable Autoplay, click the button at the top of the queue.

Update the Apple Music App to Disable AutoPlay on Apple Music

The most recent version of Apple Music fixes the issue of Apple Music playing automatically. Hence, updating your Apple Music software will solve the problem.

You can follow these procedures to update it to the most recent version:

  1. Open the "App Store" on your iPhone.
  2. Locate the "Updates" button at the bottom of the screen and tap it.
  3. Tap the "Update" button if it is present next to your Apple Music app. Your smartphone likely has the most recent Apple Music version if the "update" is not ready.

Turn Off Handoff

This might not be the best option for individuals who depend on Apple's Handoff feature. The Handoff feature is enabled by default and allows you to smoothly switch between devices (like an iPhone to an iPad or an iPhone to a Mac) without starting the app on the new device.

If any Apple applications, such as Safari, Notes, Messages, or others, have ever appeared in the Dock on your Mac, this is Handoff at work. Completely turning off Handoff would prevent the "handoff" from occurring when your iPhone connects to your car's Bluetooth.

When the iPhone automatically discovers devices, the Handoff feature keeps playing media on those devices. You can customize, disable, or change Handoff settings.

Here's how to turn off Handoff:

  1. On your iPhone, launch the Settings app.
  2. Click General.
  3. Select AirPlay & Handoff as you scroll down.
  4. Toggle "Handoff" off by tapping the button next to it.
  5. Note that the features that Handoff has to offer will only be available if you turn this off. If you rely on Handoff, you can always set an iPhone reminder to turn it back on when you're done driving.

Your AirPods Should Be In Their Case

Although Apple AirPods can sense when you are wearing them, you can prevent them from detecting your phone by holding them in your palm or putting them in your pocket or bag. Putting them in the case will also stop them from turning on themselves and starting the music automatically.

Disable Bluetooth on Your iPhone

The simplest solution to stop Apple Music from automatically playing every time you get into your car is to switch off Bluetooth on your iPhone or iPad so that no connection is established. You can also turn it off depending on whether you use your car's Bluetooth for other purposes.

Reset App Settings

Resetting Apple Music settings is pretty easy. Also, to do this, you need to disable its iCloud sync feature. The steps are as follows:

  1. Launch the Settings app, then select music.
  2. Turn off the iCloud Music Library setting.
  3. Restart it after waiting for a few minutes.
  4. Accessing Apple Music is the fourth step after that. Next, tap your profile.
  5. Stop the background-running application.
  6. Open the app again and sign in with your Apple ID and password to help fix the issue with Apple Music automatically playing.

Does your Apple Music or Spotify pause during usage? Find out how to fix it in our other article!

How to Stop Apple Music From Automatically Playing in Car

The autoplay of music is one drawback of having a Bluetooth stereo system in your car. It frequently happens to many users. Imagine turning on the ignition after getting into the vehicle, and boom! Your iPhone resumes playing loudly in your car the song you listened to a few minutes or hours ago.

An event like this is usually annoying. However, on the good side, there are ways to prevent or stop this from happening next time. Some of the strategies to stop Apple Music from auto-playing in your car are as follows:

Access the Car Sound System’s Auto-Play Settings

You should be able to turn off the autoplay feature on your car's Bluetooth stereo system. The switch that will enable customization of the feature should be found because each automobile has a different configuration.

If you can locate and turn it off, you might never again be in that annoying situation as long as the solution is for you. If not, try something different.

Prevent Apple Music from Accessing Cellular Data

Music will begin streaming immediately when you turn on mobile data on your iPhone. To prevent tracks from automatically playing on your iPhone, turn off the data access for that music app. To accomplish this, follow this process:

  1. Open the Settings application.
  2. Navigate to the mobile data settings.
  3. Go to Settings on your iPhone and select Mobile Data.
  4. **Toggle off **the switch by scrolling down to the app's name.
  5. To stop autoplay, turn off cellular data use in the music app.

Requesting Siri to Halt Playing Apple Music in the Car

Your iPhone's voice assistant responds to all of your questions promptly. If you ask Siri to turn off the music, it will do so immediately. The greatest time to do this would be after getting in the car and the music begins to play.

Turn off CarPlay Features

If the CarPlay function is activated, Apple Music may play music without being opened. You can disable CarPlay to prevent Apple Music from playing on auto-pilot in your vehicle. Below is how to go about it:

  1. Select **Screen Time. **
  2. Go to content and Privacy Restrictions.
  3. Check for and select allowed Apps.
  4. Turn off the carplay from the Settings app.

Use Apple Shortcuts

Taking advantage of the Shortcuts app is arguably the most creative approach to prevent Apple Music from starting automatically. As you might have imagined, there's also a choice to set off a shortcut whenever your iPhone connects to Bluetooth devices. This solution's ability to let you choose which Bluetooth device initiates the automation makes it much more remarkable.

Thanks to this new Shortcuts automation, you won't ever have to worry about your iPhone starting to play music anytime it partners with your automobile.

Here's a shortcut to prevent Apple Music from automatically playing from your car:

  1. Open your iPhone's Shortcuts app.
  2. Search for the Automation tab at the bottom of the toolbar and click on it.
  3. At the upper right of the screen, tap on the Plus button.
  4. Click on create Personal automation.
  5. Click Bluetooth by scrolling down, then tap on it.
  6. Check for the name of your car on the list of paired Bluetooth devices, **tap on it, **and select done.
  7. Right at the top right of the screen, tap "Next" and select "search box" at the bottom of the page.
  8. Find Pause and check out the "play and pause" action under media.
  9. Tap Play/Pause when you are back to the Actions page.
  10. Go to the pop-up menu and choose Pause, tap next, and you're done.

Play a 10-minute Silent Song

For some people, your iPhone may not be why your Apple Music plays automatically when you enter your car. Your car's entertainment system may be the source of the concern. If none of the above options work, there's something else that may solve the problem.

Go to your Apple Music app and search for the song titled, “A a a a a Very Good Song.” This is a 10-minute song with zero lyrics and sounds by Samir Mezrahi. So, when you plug in your phone and your car goes to play Apple Music, the only song it will find is your silent track. This will give you enough time to pick the song you want to hear or turn off the music players altogether.

Transfer your Playlist to Other Music Streaming Services

Finally, if none of the above options work for you, consider canceling Apple Music and moving to another music streaming service such as Spotify, YouTube Music, Deezer, etc.

Also, you can now easily transfer your playlists to other music services with FreeYourMusic. For instance, you can transfer your playlists from Apple Music to Spotify and vice versa.

Sign up on the platform and try it for free today!

Migrate from and to any music services
Try it for free now

Download FreeYourMusic for iOS

We're also available on

AndroidmacOSWindowsLinux