My ipod nano won't stop talking.

This was the solution that worked for me: My earphones I was using with my iPod Nano had a control button on it. It occurred to me that they were about 3 years old, were subjected to a lot of dust and sweat, so what if that button mechanism was jammed or no longer working properly - possibly cueing the Nano to go into voiceover mode with me wanting it. I switched to a new set of earphones yesterday (also have a control button) and my iPod Nano has worked beautifully ever since. Try another set of earphones and see if it's your iPod or the phones that are the culprit, that's what I advise. Good luck.

Jeez, is this really an Apple product we're talking about literally fixing with rubber bands and socks? After going bonkers many times during my bike commute to work, I finally secured a new iPod (Thanks, Apple!) In addition to the annoying random voice over, it would skip songs, drop the volume and whack out in other ways.

Sadly, my brand new iPod is doing the same thing with voice over and both voice over and speaking hints are turned off.l But here's the rub - I think the comments about ear buds may be a big clue and I think that in typical Apple fashion, they are going to make it very difficult to make their product work properly unless you buy into their entire ecosystem 100%. That means no saving money on off brand accessories.

Not happy, Apple. This is not the reputation that made you what you are.

OK, since I have spoke with Apple senior advisers, I guess it's my turn to join this party. I am a runner. I had an old nano that worked great for years, finally I just ran out of room and bought a 7th generation nano to add more storage. It worked fine for about 2 years. Then while running the voice over would turn on and run down my play list ...."recently added, S. Earle run 25, R. Adams run 30, etc"...over and over and over. Rebooting would either fix for a an hour or two, or just let it continue. The iPod was kept on an arm band, covered, and untouched by me. As I was about to leave on vacation and wanted to run I finally said "screw it". I had enough and bought the 8th generation exactly 2 weeks ago today. My new iMac (2 months) had all the updates, and my songs were downloaded. 35 minutes into a workout (I was rowing) it started again. I was shocked and angry. I also had recently bought a new iPad because of a Pages issue, only to fine the same issue was not resolved, and here I was again, upgrading to solve a problem but the problem was still there. Bad business, and stupid me. So under warranty I called support. No one knew of the issue. I was given a senior adviser. Yes, all the voice over buttons are off etc. The senior adviser also never heard of this issue. I referred the adviser to this board. Oh. Long story short, no luck but I was asked to let their engineering team take a look and I should call back when I return home. I spoke with a senior adviser last night. I was told to lower the speak rate on in my iTunes. I also lowered it on iPod. I was told this is a known remedy. With today the end of my 2 week return at Best Buy, I was down to the wire. I was told to try it, if it failed, return it and if I could record it, so engineers could hear. 10 minutes later I went for a run, 12 minutes into the run it started again. I ran home, recorded the **** thing and left it on the advisers voice mail. I got burned on the iPad but I'm not getting taken again on the iPod, returning it today. I hear the nano is going to be discontinued, I find this disappointing but it makes me wonder if this buried issue is part of the reason.

I turned on the voice over on in the settings of the I pod nano. Then, I plugged the I pod into the computer and access the settings I tunes. Voice over showed up as being on. I turned it off there. I unplugged the nano from the computer, went back into settings and turned the voice over off there too.......so far, no more problems.

Try doing a Reset (restart) of the iPod, if it seems to be "stuck" on a setting.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1320

NOTE: VoiceOver has two places for set up. One is in iTunes, on the iPod's Summary screen. The other is in the iPod's onboard Settings screen. Take a look at Chapter 11 (Accessibility) of the full user manual, and check the settings in both places.

http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1624/en_US/ipod_nano_user_guide.pdf

YES, I HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM FOR MONTHS!! Unfortunately, I an generally too busy to get on here and post something, but this morning I was once again sitting on my bike, listening to this ridiculous computerized female voice (off of my seventh generation Apple iPod Nano, with current software) repeat song titles, playlist titles, etc., which it did OVER AND OVER again. REALLY??? Who wants this feature under any circumstances??? I appreciate most Apple products, and I'm doing my best to appreciate this one, but PLEASE, APPLE, FIX THIS TOTALLY ABSURD BUG. I've never authorized any voiceover. And I've seen that people have had this problem for years. If there are people out there who want this absurd "feature," please create a way to permanently disable it for the rest of us! Honestly, the original Apple TV was a piece of junk. This feature on the Nano is worse. The iPod is a product Apple should have mastered by now. And we're talking about SEVENTH generation! It's simply ridiculous.

In the interest of full disclosure, the one work-around I've figured out is to rename the playlists with either funny or otherwise interesting titles. Then at least when the idiotic thing starts reading off song titles and the title of every single playlist on the device, you get a good laugh. Even doing that, however, does not make this problem more bearable when it's happening for the tenth time in a 5-minute span.

Hello, Apple, are you listening?!!!

oh, and, i've found that a reset works for a few hours or more, but then at some point the device reverts to the same behavior. I've got two Nanos, and they both do the same thing. In case you are wondering, I bought them at the same time.

REALLY??? Who wants this feature under any circumstances???

It's not a "bug." If this is a 7th gen nano, I think you are describing the Accessibility feature for users with a vision disability (not able to read the iPod's screen).

Chapter 11 (starting on page 48) of the iPod nano (7th gen) manual describes the relevant settings in the iPod's onboard Settings screen

http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1624/en_US/ipod_nano_user_guide.pdf

There are relevant settings in iTunes (on the iPod's Summary screen) and on the iPod nano's onboard settings. So, you should make sure the Accessibility settings are OFF in both places. The manual also says, "You can also set a preference that turns either VoiceOver or Invert Colors on or off with three clicks of the Home button" (see page 48), so that may be how it gets turned ON inadvertently; doing a settings "reset" works initially, but pressing the Home button three times quickly turns VoiceOver ON again.

Kenichi,

Thanks for the response, but I've already checked all of these settings. My issue is not a setting; it is a software problem. I just went through the entire process again (per pages 48 and 51 of the manual). I've confirmed again that iTunes and the Nano's settings are all off regarding voiceover, whether it's the feature generally or the triple-click option.

I don't know what the flaw is, but just so everyone knows, when voiceover starts, nobody is touching the Nano or providing any other input (for instance, the song never changes or stops), the only feature that automatically and repeatedly commences on its own is voiceover. I'm using Powerbeats headphones (also purchased at the Apple store).

I've seen others with the same problem (and I've also seen people with this problem complaining because their posts were deleted). Apple needs to provide a real solution here. On a relative scale, the Nano isn't the most expensive thing ever, but it's also not cheap. It ought to work.

Thanks.

So, it seems you can turn VoiceOver OFF, but it then turns back ON for some reason. While VoiceOver is OFF, the nano works fine. So, the precice problem is, why does VoiceOver turn ON by itself?

After it turns ON by itself, if you check the iPod's onboard Settings screen, is the relevant VoiceOver setting set to be ON (or OFF)? If it is ON, if you then turn VoiceOver OFF again (without doing a complete settings Reset), does the nano again work fine (until the next time VoiceOver turns ON by itself again)?

Does this problem (VoiceOver activating on its own) ever happen if you are using a different set of headphones (not the "PowerBeats")?. The nano can receive control input over the headphones cable, so it is possible that it is getting a false signal (in this case to turn VoiceOver ON), if the headphones are faulty. That could explain why it happens with BOTH of your nanos, if you are using the same headphones with both. Also, make sure the headphones plug is completely inserted into the nano's headphones jack (the fit can be tighter than expected).

Otherwise, if you have not yet done a Restore on the iPod using iTunes, be sure to try that...

Restoring iPod to factory settings

That will erase the iPod, reinstall its software, and set it to default settings.

My issue is not a setting; it is a software problem.

If doing a Restore does not fix the problem, the cause is NOT a settings or software problem; it is a more likely to be a hardware problem. If there is an Apple Store nearby, I would make a reservation at the store's Genius Bar and take it there,

I'm having the same problem. I've turned off the voiceover on the iPod nano 7th gen unit and in the summary screen of iTunes. I've also turned off the speak hints. By every account, voiceover should be off. It still runs. I purchased an iPod nano that began having this problem after I had it for a few months. I bought a new one, thinking I must have gotten it wet or dropped it. The new one started the same annoying behavior after a couple of weeks. Lots of people seem to be having this same problem. I've changed headphones with the same result. If there is a problem with the headphones, why doesn't Apple simply remove the ability of the headphones to turn on a function that has been purposefully turned off in two different menus?

Apple makes great products in general. The iPod nano 7th generation is a dud, though. This surprises me. The iPod nano 7th generation appears to be a very poorly-designed product. I would never recommend anyone buy one of these until they fix the issue with the uncontrollable voiceover.

Resetting and restoring both had the same result, neither worked.

If it is recently purchased, take it to an Apple Store and demonstrate the problem (that VoiceOver cannot be turned OFF) to the Genius Bar. It is under warranty for one year from purchase date. If there is no conveniently located Apple Store, use the Contact Us link at the bottom left corner of this web page to contact Apple's "real" tech support. This forum, while often helpful, is a place of discussion for Apple's users.

While this problem does come up sometimes in this forum, it is not a general design issue with the iPod nano 7th gen. Since your nano is under warranty, it would be best to have Apple resolve your particular issue.

....same problem....no solution ('till now). This morning I was about to go mad with that voice talking endlessly! Please find a way to fix this issue!!!!!

I think I may have been able to fix it!!!

I plugged the iPod nano up to iTunes and restored it, reloading all of the iTunes content (songs and audiobooks). At first, I had the same issue with the voiceover playing endlessly. After I restored it, I turned off the voiceover in all of the locations:

1. Settings, General, Accessibility, Voiceover - turn to off. Also, turn off "speak hints".

2. Fitness>spoken feedback>off

3. iTunes - there is a place you can turn off the voiceover.

4. For grins and giggles, I also turned off the "shake to shuffle" feature on the iPod (it shakes a lot during a workout, so that could contribute).

After I restored, the same problem happened until I turned off #2 above. When all of those locations were turned off after a "restore", it stopped. I had nothing but beautiful music. I've had two good workouts with music since then and it's still working normally.

If you're having this problem with the uncontrollable voiceover, I would suggest doing a restore (will require you to reload all of your iPod content). Then go through each of the above locations and verify that they are all still turned off. That seems to have worked for me. If it starts again, I'll let you know.