Apple Music is a really great music streaming platform, but one annoying little thing about it is its insistence on auto-playing other music when your desired tracks are finished. It seems to think that it needs to continuously serve up music that you never asked for in the first place. If this bugs you, here is how to stop Apple Music from auto-playing.
Read more: Apple Music — is it worth it?
QUICK ANSWER
To stop Apple Music from auto-playing, start a song and then go to the song’s main page. Tap the icon with the three horizontal lines and three dots. This opens up the list of what’s playing next. Deselect the autoplay button and the list will delete itself.
JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS
How to stop Apple Music from auto-playing
Stopping Apple Music auto-play is very easy and only takes a few seconds.
iPhone and iPad
Start a song on Apple Music (otherwise, this won’t work). Then at the bottom of the song’s page, tap the icon that has three horizontal lines and three dots. This is the entryway to the Playing Next list.
Look to the right of the Playing Next list. There are three icons. The one on the far right (the one that looks like two circles squashed together) is the auto-play button. Simply tap it to switch it off. When you do so, the Playing Next list will delete itself, including the Auto-Play section.
macOS
The macOS desktop version of Apple Music is the same as the iOS mobile app. At the top-right of the screen is the standard logo of three horizontal lines and three dots. Clicking it will open the Playing Next list. Tap the two squashed circles 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 reappear.
Nevertheless, here are three other tips that will stop Apple Music from auto-playing, if the previous method isn’t sufficient enough.
Put the AirPods back in the case if you’re not using them
Sam Smart / Android Authority
Quite often, if you have your AirPods out of the case, and they are not in your ears, they can start music playback. Putting the AirPods back into their case and shutting the lid will prevent this from happening. This is also the same for standard wired earphones, as many of them can control your music playback on your devices.
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 the vehicle’s Apple CarPlay. You may also want to disable your car’s Bluetooth as well.
Disable Handoff on other devices
Handoff is a feature that continues media playback from one Apple device to another Apple device once they are detected nearby. This has the potential to very quickly become a major pain if your music starts playing from other devices and speakers. You can solve this by disabling Handoff on your iOS device by going to Settings–>General–>Airplay & Handoff.
