Why Does iTunes Open When I Connect Bluetooth Headphones?
You’re ready to connect your Bluetooth headphones so you can rock out to your favorite tunes at work or listen to a new episode of your fave true crime podcast while you are on the go.
But – oh, how annoying! – iTunes or Apple Music keep opening whenever you connect your Bluetooth headphones.
You might find yourself wondering “How do I stop iTunes from automatically playing Bluetooth headphones?” And, honestly, you are not the only one to have this occur.
This is actually a relatively common issue – and one that is normally easy enough to troubleshoot.
As someone who is always connecting their Bluetooth headphones to their iPhone (Hey, can you blame me for being addicted to Apple Music?!), I have encountered this problem myself and had to find ways to troubleshoot it.
Is it an obnoxious problem to have? Absolutely.
But is it one that can usually be resolved on your own, without having to contact Apple Support? Yup.
I’ve put together a guide for how to troubleshoot this issue.
Give these troubleshooting methods a try and see if one of them resolves your problem with iTunes opening whenever you connect your Bluetooth headphones.
Why Does iTunes Open When I Connect Bluetooth Headphones?
If iTunes is automatically synced to your device, it is liable to start automatically. Thus, when iTunes detects a paired device (such as your Bluetooth headphones), it can open automatically. Fortunately, there are a handful of troubleshooting techniques you can try to get this problem to stop.
Just what is causing iTunes or Apple Music to open on its own?
How can you possibly stop this issue from occurring?
Why is automatic syncing something that seems to cause such an annoyance?
Read on to learn more about why iTunes opens by itself when you connect your Bluetooth headphones and what you can do about it.
What is causing iTunes to open all by itself?
Asking yourself “How do I stop iTunes from opening when I plug in headphones?” First, you need to know some potential causes for this problem.
When you have iTunes automatically synced, it will pop up right away on your device when it detects that something has just been paired up.
This is the main reason, and there could be other things causing this to happen.
How do I stop automatic syncing on my Apple device?
If you are on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch, you will need to go into iTunes, then click on Preferences.
Locate the Devices tab and click on it.
Check on the check box that says Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically. Check on OK, then close iTunes.
Ideally, this should help.
How do I stop iTunes from opening when I connect my iPhone to Bluetooth?
Time to answer your question of “How do I stop iTunes from opening automatically when I connect my Mac to headphones?” (Remember, on your iPhone, this will be Apple Music.) There are a few techniques that you can try; one might work, or none might work, depending on the nature of the issue.
Go down the list of these troubleshooting methods and see if one will help you out.
Disabling Handoff Feature
First, you will want to try disabling the handoff feature. You will need to:
- Go into Settings.
- Click on General.
- Select Airplay and Handoff.
- Toggle Handoff to ‘OFF’.
Switching this feature off can aid in the removal of your iPhone’s memory that you had played music on your phone.
Disabling Siri Suggestion
Disabling Siri Suggestion is another way to get iTunes to stop popping up. To do this, you need to:
- Go into Settings and select Siri & Search.
- You will see options for Suggestions in Search, Suggestions in Look Up, and Suggestions on Lock Screen. Switch them all off.
If this does not work, then your next move will be to Delete Music, then reinstall the app.
Check the Headphones
Did you accidentally press a button on your headphones that enables automatic play? Is there a headphones controller that might not be working properly? Either of these things can cause iTunes to improperly pop up when you connect your Bluetooth headphones.
Your headphones themselves might be flawed.
Unfortunately, in some cases, users have to replace their headphones in order to resolve this issue.
Defects in the headphones have been named as the culprit for this issue before, so it is best to check your headphones before trying any more complex methods.
How do I stop Apple Music from automatically opening?
Let’s talk Apple Music for a sec. It used to be wrapped into iTunes itself, but it split off into its own app a few years ago – and to much success.
Apple Music does also have the tendency to automatically open when you connect your Bluetooth headphones. It isn’t supposed to, but this error can occur.
Therefore, we need to look at a few ways you can try to remediate this situation.
Login
If you are on a Mac, start by checking your Login Items. On Mac, this will automatically run during startup.
Any application included on this list will automatically open when you start up your Mac.
Apple Music can be one of those Login Items.
Want to resolve this issue? You’ll need to:
- First, click on the Apple icon.
- Select System Preferences.
- Click on Users & Group.
- Select Apple Music.
- Deselect Open at Login.
Daemon, Agents, Caches, and Preferences
If the previous method doesn’t work, check to see if the Apple Music plist file is corrupted.
This file’s corruption can lead to Apple Music automatically opening.
You will need to use Daemons, Agents, Caches, and Preferences in order to remove the corruption so that the plist file works again.
Here are a few things you can do:
- Delete LaunchDaemons: Open Finder > Library > LaunchDaemons. Next, delete the music plist file.
- Delete LaunchAgents: Open Finder > Library > LaunchAgents. Delete the music plist file.
- Delete Caches: Open Finder > Library > Caches. Choose to delete all files with the music file extension name.
- Delete Preferences: Open Finder > Library > Preferences and delete all files with the music file extension name.
Third-Party Apps
You can also use a third-party app like noTunes to prevent Apple Music from opening automatically.
These apps do most of the work for you and are pretty easy to use.
They can even help repair your device’s operating system if need be.
Change Your Settings
Features like Shake to Shuffle can cause your music to play automatically.
You will want to change this setting by simply going into Settings > General > Accessibility > Shake to Undo.
Then just swipe it down to disable this option.
Closing Thoughts
Having iTunes or Apple Music pop up every time you try to connect your Bluetooth headphones can be pretty annoying.
Thankfully, for the most part, this is an issue that can easily be resolved.
Worst case scenario? You’ll need to replace your headphones.
Most users experience success with troubleshooting, although a few have been left still scratching their heads as to why this occurs.