Using AirPods to pause playback from iPhone starts playback from Apple Watch

Question

Using AirPods to pause playback from iPhone starts playback from Apple Watch

Something has changed in the last couple of days with my iPhone XS and Apple Watch Series 4.

I use my AirPods paired to my iPhone. When I pause playback by double-tapping my AirPods or removing one from my ears, instead of just pausing playback from my iPhone my AirPods now start playing from the Music app on my Apple Watch.

I have never deliberately paired my AirPods with my watch and I have never deliberately used the Music app on my watch.

Does anyone know what's changed and how I can get pausing via the AirPods to simply pause rather than switch source?

Apple Watch

Posted on Dec 18, 2019 2:56 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Tom Catchesides Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 23, 2019 1:20 AM in response to BreeZee_17

Thanks for the suggestions! I'd tried all of those approaches already and soon after posting on here I also noticed that my Apple Watch's battery was being drained much faster than usual too.

I ended up resorting to resetting my Apple Watch and restoring it from a backup. That seems to have fixed the problem.

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Answer 2

BreeZee_17

Community Specialist

Dec 20, 2019 3:51 PM in response to Tom Catchesides

Hey there Tom Catchesides,

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. I understand pausing music from your AirPods causes the music to play from your Apple Watch instead of pausing. I’ll be happy to help.

Let’s isolate this issue some. Reset your AirPods and see if this has any impact on the issue:

Reset your AirPods - Apple Support

Force close the Music app on both your iPhone and Apple Watch. On your iPhone, follow the steps in this link:

How to force an app to close on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

On your Apple Watch, press and hold the side button to show the power options. Then press and hold the Digital Crown to quit the app.

Restart both devices:

Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

How to restart your Apple Watch

Check for updates as well to further isolate this:

Update your Apple Watch

For your iPhone:

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch