Cannot turn off Now Playing on Apple Watch

I have had a problem since an update about two months ago. My battery life was lasting 1.2 days and is now only lasting ~ 1 days. To chase extending the battery life, I have been disabling things like "Always on", etc. I noticed that "Now playing" is popping up every time I listen to a podcast.

I cannot turn off the "Now Playing" on my Apple watch. I have tried the below fix, but it did not work.

Press the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch.
Tap Settings on the list of apps or in the grid view.
Tap General.
Tap Wake Screen.
Tap the switch next to Auto-Launch Audio Apps so it's in the grey "off" position.

Posted on Jan 9, 2024 6:57 AM

Top-ranking reply

verklson

Level 1

14 points

Posted on Jul 17, 2024 3:05 PM

Definitely a bug Apple needs to fix, can't believe this is still not addressed.

The following workaround worked for me (all described in various other comments):

Press the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch.
Tap Settings on the list of apps or in the grid view.
Tap General.
Tap Wake Screen.
Tap the switch next to Auto-Launch Audio Apps so it's in the grey "off" position.

Then

On the Watch app on your iPhone:

General -> Auto-Launch (verify it is off here. should be based on your above description)

back to the main list under General and look for "Enable Handoff". Probably enabled and it should be.

Toggle it off and tap "Back" in the upper left. (tapping back out and back in may not be required, just what I did)

Tap back on General and turn back on "Enable Handoff".

Then

Restart the apple watch

So far, now playing (Podcasts, Music app) is not showing on my watch face when playing on my iPhone

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25 replies

Kckates

Level 1

20 points

Mar 25, 2024 6:49 PM in response to Ozmom26

None of the above suggestions have worked for me. I even disabled AirPlay. It’s still won’t stop showing on my watch and it’s killing my battery.

Kamboj86

Level 1

12 points

May 12, 2024 2:45 PM in response to eWeezie

Thanks… doing toggle for handoff works :)

May 31, 2024 8:35 AM in response to eWeezie

This didn’t work for me..

495i9

Level 1

14 points

Jul 6, 2024 7:32 PM in response to eWeezie

I have tried every suggestion and it still continues to pop up on my watch🤬

Kate III

Level 1

32 points

Sep 2, 2024 11:47 AM in response to eWeezie

Just tried your work around! Going for my daily hike! Will let you know if it works! Thanks!

WMC41

Level 1

25 points

Sep 21, 2024 11:07 AM in response to petiblck

Worked great on my series 7

Thanks very much!

Sep 26, 2024 4:36 PM in response to lishfae

That didn’t work for me. Thanks for trying.

lesa299

Level 1

8 points

Oct 15, 2024 8:19 AM in response to petiblck

Good morning Petiblck,

Thank you so very much, this is actually the only thing that has worked!! I appreciate you :)

Oct 15, 2024 8:47 AM in response to lishfae

I do not see a “now playing” in my list.

lishfae

Level 1

26 points

Sep 26, 2024 12:06 PM in response to Steve In Raleigh

I figured it out!

Press the crown and view apps in list view (scroll to the bottom to change if in grid view).

Slide ‘Now Playing’ app to the left, a red button with a trash can comes up. Click to delete the app.

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Cannot turn off Now Playing on Apple Watch