How to stop Apple Music from auto-playing

Apple Music can be a great music streaming platform, but one minor annoyance is its insistence on auto-playing other music when your queued tracks are finished — never mind your mood or anything you had planned. If this bugs you, here’s how to stop Apple Music from auto-playing.

How to stop Apple Music from auto-playing

Stopping Apple Music’s auto-play function is very easy, but you do have to be aware of differences between platforms.

iPhone and iPad

Start playing tracks on Apple Music (otherwise, this won’t work). At the bottom of the playback page, tap the bulletpoint list icon. This opens up your queue, which Apple calls the Playing Next list.

On the right side of Playing Next, there should be three icons. The one on the far right (the moebius/infinity icon) is the Auto-Play button. Simply tap it to switch auto-play off. The Playing Next list will empty out.

macOS

The macOS version of Apple Music is similar to iOS and iPadOS. In the top-right corner, look for the bulletpoint list icon. Clicking it will open the Playing Next list. Tap the infinity icon next to Clear to turn off Auto-Play.

Is Apple Music still auto-playing? Then try these tips

Unfortunately, there seems to be no permanent solution to turning off auto-play. Switching it off will only last for as long as you have Apple Music open. If you close the Music app and then restart it, auto-play will reactivate.

Nevertheless, here are three other tips that will stop Apple Music from auto-playing, if the previous methods weren’t sufficient.

Put your AirPods back in the case if you’re not using them

Quite often, if you have your AirPods out of their case but they’re not in your ears, they can start music playback. Putting the AirPods back and shutting the lid will prevent this from happening. This can be true for other headphones/earbuds as well, as long as they have onboard controls that can be accidentally triggered.

Disable Bluetooth on your Apple device and Apple CarPlay

If Apple Music starts auto-playing when you get into your car, it may be worth switching off Bluetooth on your iPhone or iPad to stop it connecting with Apple CarPlay. Alternately, you might want to disable your car’s Bluetooth.

Disable Handoff on other devices

Handoff is a feature that switches media playback from one Apple device to another, usually an iPhone and a HomePod. While accidental Handoff is unlikely, since devices have to be in close proximity, it’s not impossible. You can solve this by disabling Handoff on your iOS device — go to Settings > General > Airplay and Handoff.

Read more: Is Apple Music not working? Here’s how to fix it