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Problem using switch control to play music

We are trying to use switch control for a student to be able to independently play music. I have it set up to use the screen as the switch. We can get it to auto scan and she can select the music app. She can then auto scan and select when it gets to play. But then it plays the music just a second and then starts scanning again. How do I stop it from scanning once she selects play?

iPhone 4S, iOS 8.2

Posted on Mar 30, 2015 12:04 PM

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Posted on Apr 8, 2015 12:16 AM

The only thing I can think of that might cause this is if you have the Speech setting turned on and it's speaking over the music as it scans. If your student doesn't need audio feedback, I'd recommend turning it off. If she does, try setting the Loops to 1 in Switch Control's preferences. This way, if she presses play and waits for the scanning to stop by completing one loop, her music will then fade up. And if you have Group Items on, her wait will be as short as possible.

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Apr 8, 2015 12:16 AM in response to JDHMB

The only thing I can think of that might cause this is if you have the Speech setting turned on and it's speaking over the music as it scans. If your student doesn't need audio feedback, I'd recommend turning it off. If she does, try setting the Loops to 1 in Switch Control's preferences. This way, if she presses play and waits for the scanning to stop by completing one loop, her music will then fade up. And if you have Group Items on, her wait will be as short as possible.

Nov 30, 2015 3:18 PM in response to JDHMB

Pick up a wireless interface. You iPad responds to it as a keyboard, and you'd be surprised what you can do without using iOs switch settings. We use a bluetooth interface and plug in the student's regular switches. Music/podcasts/youtube respond to F8 (to play and pause). F9 to advance the playlist, F10 to mute (check out your mac keyboard for more media shortcuts). It's the interface that allows you to assign a keystroke to a button press. I've been doing this since iOs 5 when I found bluetooth interfaces!

Another cool trick is using the "up arrow" in the camera/video app on your iPad. You can take pics with a single switch press.


ThePretorian Applicator has F8 in media mode (port 1). It has room for up to 4 external buttons, not included (it even has a timed play of 10 seconds) Pair your iPad with the applicator, switch on media mode, plug a switch into 4th port to play music for 10 seconds at a time. Works well with switch apps (space/enter) Just assign a keystroke to a port and go for it.


The Blue2 has two switches built into the interface. You can program it with a USB keyboard in 5 seconds to do F8, plug in another switch and you can simulate a timed play.

Dec 7, 2015 3:24 PM in response to JDHMB

With the introduction of Recipes in iOS 9, it is now possible to specific actions to switches. For example, in the Music app, I have a Recipe so that each time I press my switch, it taps the Play/Pause button. So I don’t have to worry about the timing of Auto Scanning and even Item/Point Mode, I can just control my music directly with my switch.

Problem using switch control to play music

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