iPod & iTunes

My personal experience with older iPods is that you may have to turn the Shuffle feature on and then start a new (different) song playing. And yes, you can do this.

I found that if the iPod was already playing a song, then tapping shuffle did not cause it to skip songs that were marked to skip. I had to re-start the music with a fresh song.

Using the screenshot below (which is from the iPod nano 6th generation user guide) as a reference to the steps mentioned here:

1. 1. tap the Now Playing screen
   2. tap the Shuffle icon so that it "turns on". I think, on your model, the icon will turn to blue
   3. now select a different song (so that the player starts with a fresh list) to play
   4. at the end of that song, the player should stop

Here is the iPod nano 6th generation user guide. The screenshot is from page 21: https://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1551/en_US/iPod_nano_6thgen_User_Guide.pdf. You can download that guide for use on your computer without having to constantly look for it online.

Hi charrosch,

It sounds like you’re seeking guidance when it comes to changing the name of your iPod in addition to stopping it from automatically playing the next song while listening to music.

Is that correct? If so, you’re in the right place to get help.

To change the name of your iPod, give the steps in the link below a try.

Change the name of your iPod touch - Apple Support

To stop your iPod from automatically playing the next song while you’re listening to music, follow the steps here: Add music to your queue to play next on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Android device - Apple Support

Reading through the steps above can help to resolve your issues. 

However, if you notice that you’re still stuck after trying the steps above, reply with what you’re observing on your end for more help.

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities.

Cheers!

charrosch,

What do you see when you tap on the song playing at the bottom of your screen in the Music app? Is your iPod touch completely up to date? You can confirm there are no updates to install by going to Settings > General > Software Updates on your iPod touch.

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Let us know!

The infinity icon (the Autoplay button) is only visible if you are subscribed to Apple Music.

So first question: are you subscribed to Apple Music? If not, then ignore that completely. Ah! But the model number that you posted suggests an iPod nano, which (unless I'm mistaken) wouldn't be able to use Apple Music anyway. If necessary, check this page: Identify your iPod model – Apple Support (UK) for help in identifying the type of iPod that you have. (Apple's "model numbering system" leaves a lot to be desired.)

One method of stopping an iPod from playing the next song is if every song in the list is set to Skip when shuffling - and you have the player in Shuffle mode. You can test this by turning Shuffle on and then playing a song. What should happen is once the song finishes, the player will stop since every other song in your current list is set to be skipped when the player is in shuffle mode.

Therefore, if you put the player back into normal play mode, it will play the next song in the list. That is normal behaviour.

If you find that your player acts as you want when it's in shuffle mode, then you must have set all the songs to Skip when shuffling in your iTunes Library, because the default is skip when shuffling is off.

So, what happens if you try playing in shuffle mode?

charrosch wrote:

By the way, recently I had someone Sync my iPod to my new laptop and don't know, if that's the cause of all this.

Aha!

That may be what has caused the change in behaviour.

Now that (I think) we've ascertained that your iPod continues to play when it's in Shuffle mode, combined with your statement above, I wonder if what has happened is that your old library had every song set to Skip when shuffling (remember, this is something I referred to before. I've been trying to work towards this point), but when the new library was created (on your new laptop), that skip when shuffling option was lost. The default setting in iTunes for the Skip when shuffling option is off.

So let's start from scratch.

One way (possibly the only way) to cause an iPod to stop after each song is to set every song to Skip when shuffling (in your iTunes Library) and to put the iPod into Shuffle mode. To achieve this, you need to check and follow the steps outlined below:

• do not connect your iPod to iTunes at this time. This will be done at the end of these steps
• in your iTunes Library check a few of your songs:
  • select a song and click on Edit/Song Info. This opens up a panel on the Details tab
  • switch to the Options tab. On this tab, look for the Skip when shuffling option. My guess it that it will be off - that is, there will not be a tick (check mark) in the box. Check a few more songs to confirm whether they are all set to off. You can check several (or all songs) in one go:
    • highlight all your songs and click on Edit/Get Info (notice the wording has changed)
    • switch to the Options tab. If the Skip box has a dash mark in it (the -), that means that some, but no all of your selection is set on, while other songs are set off. Click the box (twice I think) to change the box to a tick (check mark)

• • if you want all the songs to Skip when shuffling, you will need to tick box to look as follows:

• once your iTunes library is set this way, connect the iPod to iTunes and let a sync take place
• when the Sync has completed, set the iPod to Shuffle mode, then the iPod will stop after every song. Be aware though, that iTunes will behave in a similar way

You should spend a little time looking at the user manual, to which I provided a link in my lats post.

charrosch wrote:

Ya know, there was a time, when you could call Apple, and they would help you over the phone. It was so much easier than trying to deal with on message boards.

I'm not so sure that I agree.

With written out the steps such as the ones I posted, you can refer to exactly what I suggested at any time in the future (such as when you are checking), so you're more likely to be precise. But with a phone call, you either have to be quick enough to write down what you're told or you have to remember what you're told, both methods that are prone to failure.

I followed those steps, and the Now Playing issue is still there...

So every song in your Library is marked as Skip when shuffling? You can test this in iTunes itself: put the iTunes player into Shuffle mode and start a song playing. At the end of that song the player should stop. If it doesn't, then songs are not set to skip when shuffling.

Try this:

• on iTunes' top bar menu tap on Controls/Shuffle/On (to turn on shuffle in iTunes)
• also make sure that Controls/Shuffle/Songs is ticked (checked)
• start a song playing
• click on the Up Next icon (see the screenshots below). The Up Next list should be empty. If it is not, then the songs in the list are not set to Skip when shuffling

Screenshots, when playing just one album (in this example):

• this one shows shuffle off, and the Up Next list, which has the remaining nine songs on the album are due to play. It plays only the nine songs after the one that is playing (this is normal behaviour):

• in the following screenshot, I have changed all the songs in this album to Skip when shuffling (I even did this while the album was playing). Because the player is in Shuffle mode, the Up Next list becomes empty, so the player will stop at the end of this song:

If I now change the setting of these songs to "skip is off" the Up Next list becomes populated with 13 songs. In other words, it will now play all the remaining songs on the album:

I don't think there is anymore I can offer, except to suggest that you go through the steps again, to ensure that you haven't missed something.

charrosch wrote:

I clicked on the link and changed charr's Library to Paul's Library, but it still shows as charr's iPod.

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I'm fairly certain that the name of the iPod nano cannot be changed on the iPod itself. You need to change it in iTunes:

• • connect the iPod to iTunes
  • click on the iPod icon appears in iTunes
  • double-click on the iPod's name (in iTunes) and type in your chosen name. Tap the enter button on your computer's keyboard

That should change the name.

charrosch wrote:

I did, as you suggested, and nothing has changed. Also, I have looked at my iTunes Library, and Shuffle is set to Off.

Can you be more precise please, because I didn't mention setting or checking shuffle in iTunes? (When I mentioned "player", I was referring to the music player app on an iPod Touch. Now we know that you have an iPod nano.)

You need to set your iPod to Shuffle on before playing a song - and then play a song on the iPod. If the iPod stops playing when that song finishes, that suggests that every song in the list is set to Skip when shuffling.

What happens?

Okay, but in the event that that doesn't help, try my suggestion again. Read and follow it one step at a time. If something doesn't work as expected, post back with specific detail about which step doesn't work as you expect and what does happen instead.

For example:

I have set Shuffle songs to on, but when I play a song and tap on the Up Next icon, it shows more songs. You say that list should be empty.

In the above example, if more songs are in the Up Next list, it means that those songs are not set to Skip when shuffling.