iTunes starts up whenever I connect my bluetooth headset

didnt we buy macs so we wouldnt need to customize basic functionality? why hasnt apple fixed this??????

Apparently Apple sees this idiocy as a feature, not a bug.

I have the same very annoying problem.

I'd like to know the name of the "genius" who introduced this annoying feature, we should give him the Nobel prize for the hassle!

Thank you very much, save my day.

I've seen my problems solved by removing execution rights from the remote control daemon, by doing:

sudo chmod -x /System/Library/CoreServices/rcd.app/Contents/MacOS

After running this I was getting high CPU usage by launchd process. I reverted this, iTunes launched and CPU usage got back to normal. It looks like system tries to launch iTunes indefinitely.

So. This was a real crazy issue. You can try the Do Nothing app trick. Didn't work for me, but seems workable. I deleted iTunes, created the app, linked the bluetooth to the DN app, but when I reinstalled iTunes the same thing happened

But...

After this when I renamed the iTuneshelper in the package contents...Walla! No more issues. This had been bugging me for over a year.

Don't know if disabling iTuneshelper is smart, but it certainly solves this crazy issue.

Love Apple, Hate Apple. Sera Sera...

Hope this helps

Open the Finder

Right-click on the iTunes app

Unlock sharing at the bottom

Change sharing permissions for 'Everyone' to 'No Access'

Lock the sharing icon again

Fixed

PS - iTunes won't work until you undo this... no real loss since it's been steadily getting worse and worse since about 2012

Thanks. This is what I was finally forced to do, so at least for me, what felt like Apple's attempt to shove iTunes in my face -- and inability to address the issues raised by many here -- now means that I will use iTunes even less.

I have this same issue and it looks like Apple has yet to address this bug after 3 years now. This is stupid. I'm not going to disable all the benefits of iPhone/iMac interaction just to fix this stupid bug.

I try to uninstall iTunes butt it no possible because it's a part of OS.

I finally avoid iTunes from executing on my macbook pro by running the following command in Terminal :

sudo chmod -x /Applications/iTunes.app

Thanks for the tips. I removed execute permissions from iTunes. This is absolute nonsense. Too much arrogance Apple. Go back to your roots and work on the user experience.

Will use VLC to play itunes content from now on.

I find it astonishing that this even occurs... It annoys the **** out of me sitting with a headset, and taking it on and off because life around requires my attention. And every time I need to close iTunes after it has started to play the first song in my library.

At least there should be a simple box/switchto make this behaviour optional.

Ok so I threw together an applescript to deal with this. I'm using High Sierra. What this script does is rename the app before and after each use. This will prevent it from being automatically launched.

First, rename iTunes to iTunes_disabled. It must match this exactly (unless you also change it in the Applescript below).

In the terminal:

sudo mv iTunes.app iTunes_disabled.app

Then open Script Editor. Create a new script and paste in the following:

set appname to "iTunes.app"
set pwd to "yourpassword"
do shell script "sudo mv /Applications/iTunes_disabled.app /Applications/iTunes.app" password pwd with administrator privileges
tell application appname to activate
on ApplicationIsRunning(appname)
tell application "System Events" to set appNameIsRunning to exists (processes where name is appname)
return appNameIsRunning
end ApplicationIsRunning
repeat until not ApplicationIsRunning("iTunes")
delay 1
end repeat
do shell script "mv /Applications/iTunes.app /Applications/iTunes_disabled.app" password pwd with administrator privileges

Enter your password on the second line, between the quotation marks.

Save it to the Applications folder, and save it as an application. I named mine iTunez.

When you launch "iTunez", it will rename the iTunes_disabled application back to iTunes, and launch it. Everything will work as expected. When you quit, it will rename iTunes back to iTunes_disabled.

Hopefully this will help some people. I was also incredibly frustrated by this. Apple, if you're reading this, a simple option on what to do when connecting bluetooth headphones would be great!

Apparently Apple sees this idiocy as a feature, not a bug. I'd recommend using the launchd workaround rather than trying to make iTunes impossible to launch. It has worked for me for months now.

All I need is to know how to keep my Bluetooth earpiece from breaking up and having no audio. Three different earpieces, 2 Mac minis, still have the breakup.

I couldn't agree with this comment more. There are so many arcane aspects of modern Apple OS that the whole platform is reduced to nearly useless. And my house and my business is filled with Apple products.

How the mighty have fallen.

If you find a solution to this most annoying problem, please let the world know. Other solutions to well documented problems would be welcomed too.