Apple Music randomly plays when I remove AirPods

I chatted with someone last night for over an hour, had me turn off ear detection and back on and reset the airpods and still auto play. The person said it’s probably hardware and want me to come into an Apple Store for support but the nearest one is 3 hours away. Then they over to replace or repair mine since I still have AppleCare till 4/24. The only thing that half way works is a shortcut when airpods are connected or disconnected to pause music.

If so many of us are experiencing this as a problem, it sure seem like it’s a systemic problem and I wish Apple would respond. I wonder if they are concerned about some kind of recall. If there was a fix, I believe it would have been posted by now.

I might be able to shed a little light on this. For years I've had another issue with my AirPods- I would be talking on my iPhone, but if my MacBook Pro made some sound (like in a chat app), my AirPods would automatically re-connect to my MacBook at that moment. Obviously this was extremely frustrating while working- I would have to fumble with my phone, try to reconnect to the AirPods (rarely worked correctly), and I'd end up finishing the call holding my phone to my ear like some 1700's pilgrim. I finally got smart and got a wireless bluetooth + keyboard that connected to a wireless USB dongle, and shut off Bluetooth on my laptop. Problem still exists, but avoided.

Now every time I called Apple Support they were shocked, SHOCKED that this was happening. And yet, it's happened for years, across multiple MacBooks & multiple AirPods. Moral of the story? Apple Support will play dumb and chew up hours and hours of your valuable time. Don't fall for it! Turn off your laptop's bluetooth, delete Apple Music, switch to Spotify if you have to, and leave this all behind. Peace!

@joshyea I respectfully suggest that what you were seeing was the frustrating world of Bluetooth, and the proprietary Bluetooth-like wireless communications between Apple AirPods and other Apple devices. I have also adopted the policy of turning off Bluetooth for my iPhone before turning it on for my MacBook. And vice versa.

Instead, I believe most of the reports in this thread are about the uncommanded activation of AirPods controls aka force sensors. Putting away AirPods sometimes triggers the loudspeaker media playback on my iPhone X of different apps: Apple Music, Overcast, Dropbox, Evermusic, Spotify. Very similar to the response that would have happened if I had kept my AirPods in my ears and squeezed the AirPods button once.

Bob, yes I originally posted in this thread on the 12th (scroll up!) about the same issue with Apple Music, which I'm also having. My latest post was commenting on other users' frustration with Apple Support. They're useless, and it doesn't just have to do with this music auto-play. They will act like they've never heard of an issue before regardless of how many people are having the issue.

@joshyea oh right that was you! I don't dare listen to that song and get it stuck in my head (or on my iPhone). I dread calling tech support more every year. The bigger the company the harder they can afford to turn that turnaround mill.

Hey we can embed a video here. I wonder if capturing this problem on camera would make a difference. ...2 hours later... intermittent bugs are the worst.

i don't want to jinx this, but i haven't had the issue for about 2 weeks now. It was occurring almost daily for me at the peak (earlier this month, end of last year). any others that have seen this fade away? I don't recall the timing of the last software update - so i don't know the potential trigger of the 'fix'

@diggins1 not to be a downer but it just happened to me yesterday. (A few seconds after putting my AirPods from ear to case, the iPhone X speaker started playing the Outcast app.) I seem to have the latest iOS 16.2 (20C65).

Is this bug that the AirPods (3rd generation) control is activated by touch, not pressure, and I'm "touching" them inadvertently while putting them away? It's still a UX crime that my speaker comes on. It's like locking my front door and the car starts.

sure enough ... i jinxed myself. later in the day after snapping my airpods case quite loudly (after putting airpods back in, after a call) .... random song playing from my library on apple music. so bizarre.

I am an embedded software engineer, I have owned few apple products, latest is an iPad pro 11 with M1.

I was hesitant to buy an iPad but I do recognize that it is a good product.

I have experienced the same issue described in this post. I use my AirPods Pro for work and learn, so I switch them between a PC, my Android phone and iPad, this is the scenario.

Steps to reproduce the issue (for Apple software engineers):

1) iPad is previously paired with AirPods, also a second device is paired previously.

2) iPad is in sleep mode (closed inside a magnetic case) nobody is using it and nobody wants to use it.

3) I want to use my AirPods with my second device, i.e. my Android phone, so I take the AirPods out of it's charging box, before the first one reach my ear I ca already hear the music.

4) Why iPad turns ON the Apple Music app automatically and starts playing music? in my case the U2 free album.

iPad is in sleep mode and I don't want to use it, why iPad software wrongly assumes that I want to use it and that I want to listen to music?

There are enough clues, info and claims in this post to easily reproduce and fix this issue.

These are the kind of things that I do not like about apple products.

Carlos,

Although I appreciate and understand the issue you are raising, I believe it is different than what this thread is about: your problem arises out of connectivity with the previously paired device and not when you put your airpods back in their case - this should probably be in a different thread no? This thread is really about the fact that when we put our airpods back in their case, music starts playing randomly.

I believe you can fix your issue by removing automatic connection to the last device - although I might be wrong.

Apple, this is not cool. I moved to your ecosystem from android and I am generally happy BUT in the middle of the night when I switch AirPods Pro (version 2) off and take it out my ear, my phone (13 mini) cannot start playing loud audio that wakes my sleeping partner!

Here’s a little hack. It’s the only one I can come up with. When you’re in a situation where music blaring out of your phone will land you in the doghouse, like when laying in bed next to your sleeping wife, don’t put the pods in their case; just put them loose on the bedside table.

I haven’t personally had the issue for a couple weeks, but it’s obviously still a problem if people are commenting on this thread. Out of fairness, I’ll comment again if I don’t have the issue for a few more weeks, but I feel like that’s being overly generous, as they have not admitted there’s an issue, not even by a hair. That irks more than anything. A little communication goes a long way. Lack of communication causes resentment.

I do not believe that Apple has employees who actually monitor forum discussions, which is intended to be a user-to-user resource. Having said that, users have been bringing this issue to the attention of Apple “geniuses” for years without any discernible action.

Forum participant since 1994.

@#%* This just happened again and woke up my kids. It hadn’t happened for a few weeks, so I was getting hopeful.

Btw, I confirmed with Apple that they do monitor these discussions. That was one dude with tech support that said that, anyhow, so who knows.