Knowing how to stop Apple Music from automatically playing when connected to a car can be a great way to help maintain your sanity and friendships. My boss recently got into my vehicle, and “Saturday Night” by the Bay City Rollers began immediately streaming from my iPhone 15 Pro to my stereo. After this embarrassment, I needed a fix. Let’s take a look.
How to Stop Apple Music from Automatically Playing when Connected to a Car
When it comes to knowing how to stop Apple Music from automatically playing in your car, the issue is likely going to be between your device, your car stereo, and Bluetooth. There are a couple of things you can try, but be sure to read until the end.
1. Disable Automatic AirPlay on iPhone
One of the first things you should try is disabling AirPlay or setting it so that it asks you if you want to use it. This one is pretty simple and is easy to revert if it doesn’t solve the issue.
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Time needed: 1 minute
- From your iPhone, navigate to Settings.
- Scroll down and select General.
- Tap AirPlay & Handoff.
- Select Automatically AirPlay. Then, choose either Ask or Never.
2. Disable CarPlay
If the vehicle supports CarPlay, disabling this on your iPhone may be your solution, though this will prevent you from using other features of CarPlay. Experiment and determine for yourself if this is a viable solution. You can also enable CarPlay again if this solution doesn’t suit your needs.
- Navigate to Settings on your iPhone.
- Tap Screen Time.
- Scroll down and select Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Ensure Content & Privacy Restrictions is enabled at the top, then select Allowed Apps.
- Disable CarPlay.
3. Disable AutoPlay (Apple Music Subscription Only)
One thing that may confuse some Apple Music users is that there is an Autoplay feature available when you have a subscription to Apple Music. If you don’t have a subscription, you will not have this option.
- Start playing a song in Apple Music.
- Tap the bar at the bottom to bring up the now-playing window.
- Click the three vertical lines at the bottom of the app.
- You will see the infinity icon in the Playing Next section next to shuffle and repeat.
4. Check Your Car Stereo to Stop Apple Music from Playing Automatically in Your Car
An important thing to remember is that your car’s head unit/stereo may be causing the issue. Since your head unit likely uses Bluetooth to connect, it may be that the head unit is playing the music automatically. Note that one user also proposes a solution involving Shortcuts. However, you may want to determine for yourself whether or not this would be beneficial.
With that in mind, check the manual for your vehicle and see what information you can find about how your car’s entertainment system plays music.
With luck, it will simply be a matter of disabling Automatic AirPlay, but be aware that you have options. You may also want to know how to fix Apple Music Sync not working.
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