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

I'm using an iPhone 5 with iOS 7.0.2, regardless it is the most recent update


When I plug my phone into my car radio's USB port (Apple cable, not knock off) iTunes starts to play the very first song in my large iTunes library.


I plug into the USB port to charge it and to connect the phone to radio in order to use hands free audio.


I have tried two or three different cables, it happens with all cables and again all are actual Apple cables.


I do not recall this happening with iOs 6 or at least as much.

With iOs 7 it happens every f***ing 😠 time. Extremely annoying and dangerous (I may get so frustrated by this that one day I might just smash the phone or the car radio :-) to the equipment.


I have to unlock my phone, go to iTunes and pause or stop the song/iTunes. ➖➖

The app does not show as being open, that is why I have to go iTunes itself, the old fashioned way, so to speak. 😕


It sometimes happens when I plug my headset in (also Apple brand, the basic ones that come with the iPad and iPhones) to phone and have tried the two different ones I have. It only seems to happen if my phone is not in use (i.e. I am on a call and switch to the headset it does not happen)


Interestingly this issue with the headphones and iTunes automatically starting happened more with iOS 6 and than with iOS 7. Ironically the opposite is true with the car radio, USB port cable, charging and iPhone — it rarely happened with iOS 6.0 but with iOS 7.0 it always happens.


I cannot seem to find a fix here but I do see I am not the only one with this annoying issue.


Please someone (APPLE!) figure out a fix. ➕ℹ➕


PS I have even considered NOT having any of my music on my phone — none at all — which not only would solve the problem (I would hope!) but be extremely inconvenient and defeating the purpose of only having an iPhone vs an iPhone and an iPod.


PPS - I probably left out something really relevant, like what color is my car 😝, so if I did, please let me know.

iPhone 5, iOS 7.0.2, iTunes

Posted on Oct 13, 2013 7:30 PM

Reply
119 replies

Sep 1, 2015 10:55 AM in response to Adriaan Renting

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!!

Sep 23, 2015 1:27 PM in response to nini2428

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.

Oct 11, 2015 3:04 PM in response to Gator5000e

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.

Oct 17, 2015 10:18 PM in response to sdkatsh

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!

Dec 13, 2015 2:08 PM in response to botfoj

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.

Jan 9, 2016 11:02 AM in response to botfoj

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.

Feb 3, 2016 4:44 PM in response to sdkatsh

Ok, so I had a slightly different problem, but the solution I found MIGHT work for everyone else, or people looking for the solution to my problem might find this. So during school yesterday, I all of a sudden heard some music playing. When I realized it was music I had, I quickly checked my phone and found it was mine. I've started plugging my earbuds in and wrapping them around my phone, and apparently it automatically plays my itunes music that I downloaded. I never even opened the app. Today, my phone played twice- my school doesn't even allow phones to be out (unless a staff member says otherwise for that period). I looked up online things, I even found this but nothing worked, and found nothing. I asked my family members and my sister only had one suggestion, but she didn't seem so sure. Then I went back to the trusty online world and saw a site that I didn't look at earlier. It said that this problem happens to them when the headphone jack was dirty and to clean by blowing on it gently or using a needle, hairpin, etc. to stick in it and get whatever is in there out. I tried the blowing and it worked. So you guys might want to try this with the thingy you plug your charger, USB cord, etc. Hope it works!!

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

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