iTunes automatically starts playing when iPhone 5 (w iOS 7.0.2) is connected to car radio via an Apple cable

I'm guessing a little, but I think there are several issues going on here:

1) Car stereos that don't understand the iPhone and only have basic "MP3 playback". They will often be set up to just start playing if you connect/insert your "MP3 CD/stick". Lot's of car manufacturers have no clue and have electronics at least a decade behind the current state of things. This is the hardest to fix, unless there is a setting in the car's stereo for it. Something like "autoplay MP# on/off"

2) Songs on Pauze in the iPhone's music app. These will be unpaused on certain evens, like establishing a connection. Make sure you stop playing instead of pausing your songs before connecting the phone.

3) The Car stereo getting confused, thinking a bluetooth phone and an MP3 storage device are connected, while both are the same device. Again this is largely due to outdated thinking by the car manufacturer or having an older model from a time when MP3 players and cell phones were separate things. This then in turn sends confusing instructions to the iPhone.

4) Music app running in the background getting a "play music" command. Might or might not be the same as 1 or 2. Shutting down the music app might help, depends a bit on the iOS version how it works exactly, but usually starts with clicking the home button twice to show the list of running apps.

5) Car stereo with iPod support but not with iPhone support. This can give confusing effects when receiving a call for example, or using car navigation apps on the phone.

I hope any of this helps you figure out what your problem might be.

I find that replacing the car stereo with an after market one that properly understands smartphones solves all these issues. Not all manufacturers make it easy to replace the car head unit though. It comparatively a minor investment to the cost of a new iPhone if your car can fit standard DIN and can make a big improvement on your driving experience, especially if your car is not brand new.

I wish car manufacturers would make their electronics more easily upgradable and not sell new cars with outdated electronics to begin with. Updating it once a decade isn't good enough.

Lot's of car manufacturers put "MP3 CD" support into their systems somewhere early in this century, which you do want to play when inserted generally. Then USB MP3 devices came around and they just hacked that into the existing stuff they had and called it a day. At least that's what seemed to have happened a lot.

I'm new to my iphone6, and ran into the same problem. With a little testing, I noticed I only had this issue if I set my car radio to bluetooth input. If the radio was to AM, FM, or was off, I was able hear the map app's announcements. If you happened to press the "hang up" button, you could interrupt the current message.

thanks for the tip! You r the best!

Absolutely none of these suggestions even relate to me.

1. My Bluetooth is not on. Don't even use it. Never set it up. Phone was not plugged in. Vehicle wasn't even running.

2. Each time this has occurred the iTunes app was completely shutdown. Not running in the background.

3. Each time this has occurred it was a different song in my library. A couple of times it started playing in the middle of a song! WTH?

4. I'll admit it's strange as it mostly occurs near my vehicle but on occasion it will start playing nowhere near my vehicle.

This is very annoying.

If anyone has any relevant suggestions it would be greatly appreciated!!

Same issue on mine and husbands phones, multiple cars, iPhone 6 & 6S.

This is not a car only problem. It happens to me when I dock my iPhone at night. I have my dock connected to my radio on my nightstand via an audio cable. It doesn't happen every time. Maybe 1 out of 3 or 4 times, but when I place the phone in the dock the music app will start playing. And it will play a random song from the music I have on the phone. There has to be a setting concerning the music app that makes it play when it detects an audio connection of some kind. I haven't found anything yet but will keep looking.

This is a really infuriating situation. Like when neither Windows nor OEMs take responsibility for a situation and simply point fingers.

I've spent the better part of six months pulling out what's left of my hair trying to ascertain why I keep finding my Music app with 'repeat' OR 'random' pre-selected. I don't give a flying beehive that older cars do this, do that. What NONSENSE! A chimpanzee with programming knowledge could add a setting to iOS eliminating auto play.

In fact since not all cars use the same software the responsibility squarely lands on Apple. Apple can't be dismissing our headaches because they want car companies to switch to Apple Carplay. Most people don't have it yet and won't for the life of their cars.

I Have the Jackson 5 sing ABC ire the first track in my library 😕 I shout gey Siri stop the music or hit the radio button on the dash board

This worked for me! Thanks so much! I was getting so annoyed with my music playing automatically. I followed your steps and discovered that I had the song on repeat. I turned off repeat, closed the app, and the issue has been resolved!

Give it a few days. It will start autoplaying again....hehe

I don't even have one song in my iTunes library or on my iPhone 6s plus, so if I connect it via Apple cable to the car's USB port, it simply tells me on the display "cannot find media files". Well duh, thanks for the confirmation! Is there any way for me to get the GPS audio to play over my car's speakers in this case? On the Bluetooth side, my car (2011 Subaru Outback) is one year too old to have a true bluetooth that can pair with my phone for general audio, only as a true phone, for phone calls. So I can't output the GPS audio directions using Bluetooth either. Any help here? Also, unlike most people, I don't always want to listen to music. Sometimes, I'd rather listen to SILENCE except the occasional "in 1000 feet, slide right onto highway 27" - so no, listening to songs as a prerequisite to being able to hear my GPS commands is not the ideal solution! Thanks again!

This happened with my iPhone 5 and now my iPhone 6plus. It is so annoying that I'm considering going back to android. Apple won't fix it until someone is killed while driving and distracted trying to shut the music off. Get your heads out of your ***** Apple!

botfoj wrote:

This happened with my iPhone 5 and now my iPhone 6plus. It is so annoying that I'm considering going back to android. Apple won't fix it until someone is killed while driving and distracted trying to shut the music off.

Why are you driving off your car then trying to plug in your iPhone and messing with it?

Start the car, plug in the phone and turn it off/select something else then drive off.

Don't assume that I am driving and operating the iPhone. The fact is this is a distraction that will in time cause someone to be injured. Apple needs to listen and be proactive, as the hundreds of posts on this subject serve as notice. I hope they will act.

I found a band aid approach that seems to work. Go to: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/silent-tracks-various-useful/id366737722

You can download one or more "songs" of complete silence. In iTunes, you can right click on the Song, select "Get Info" then select the "Sorting" tab. Under "Sort As," you can put "A A A A" or whatever caption you want at the top. You can also do this with any song and make it go to the top. To be sure it worked, I turned my phone off and then turned it on before starting the car.

It's not perfect, but it gives you time to react without getting really annoyed with hearing the same song start up each time. You can either exit the music player or press the repeat button on the car display.