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How can I stop iTunes auto playing when I connect via cable to car head unit?

Azzin

Azzin

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jun 23, 2010
5,434
3,742
London, England.
Hi all,

As per title really, I've got an i6 and when I connect it (via USB) to my Kenwood head unit, iTunes starts playing and it's REALLY annoying me now.

As it stands, I have to open the folder with the iTunes app in it, open iTunes and then fine "Now Playing" and press pause, when all I want to do is listen to the radio and charge my phone.

Help!
 
There are other threads on this (you can search); I think others may have had a few workarounds, but nothing firm. If you figure it out, let me know! ;)
 
It's a kenwood issue not an iPhone issue. Others like Sony and pioneer offer you the option to have auto play on or off. Kenwood have not added this.
 
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Cergman said:
Get a charge only cable, or snip the data leads on your current one.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I should have added that I do use the cable to play Spotify and a couple of Digital radio stations, so taking out the data option out is a no go for me.

It's just an annoyance, rather than a serious issue.

If it's a Kenwood issue, then it looks like there isn't anything I can do about it anyway.

Ho hum, thanks everyone.
 
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Azzin said:
Sorry, I should have added that I do use the cable to play Spotify and a couple of Digital radio stations, so taking out the data option out is a no go for me.

It's just an annoyance, rather than a serious issue.

If it's a Kenwood issue, then it looks like there isn't anything I can do about it anyway.

Ho hum, thanks everyone.
Click to expand...
My Mercedes does that too, but I don't charge often enough in it for that to be a concern. A quicker way to pause the music is to swipe up into control center and hit pause rather than going through your folders.
 
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Cergman said:
My Mercedes does that too, but I don't charge often enough in it for that to be a concern. A quicker way to pause the music is to swipe up into control center and hit pause rather than going through your folders.
Click to expand...

Good call, thanks for that!
 
But by then, you've already blasted your ears! (Somehow our Toyota starts playing Music app at super high volume, regardless of last volume setting used on the stereo...)
 
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My Chevy does this too... What i've done is when I don't want to listen to music from it I will press the band button to go to radio quickly... workaround!
 
If your car is like mine, it often plays the first song on my iPhone (alphabetically) instead of picking up where it left off. So my kludge was to create a song called AA that is just 1 hour of silence. So even though it starts automatically, I still don't hear anything. On the rare occasion that it actually picks up where it left off, at least I hear a song/album I was listening to on purpose.
 
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wacky4alanis said:
If your car is like mine, it often plays the first song on my iPhone (alphabetically) instead of picking up where it left off. So my kludge was to create a song called AA that is just 1 hour of silence. So even though it starts automatically, I still don't hear anything. On the rare occasion that it actually picks up where it left off, at least I hear a song/album I was listening to on purpose.
Click to expand...

How do you create a silent track?
 
Stop connecting the cable to the car. Charge with a battery pack and play via bluetooth.
 
ectospheno said:
Stop connecting the cable to the car. Charge with a battery pack and play via bluetooth.
Click to expand...

That's not useful advice for 2 reasons.

1) There are plenty of times (normally at the end of a day), I want to listen to music in the car or make phone calls and my battery is low.

2) The sound quality is better when cabled, than when using Bluetooth.
 
Azzin said:
That's not useful advice for 2 reasons.

1) There are plenty of times (normally at the end of a day), I want to listen to music in the car or make phone calls and my battery is low.

2) The sound quality is better when cabled, than when using Bluetooth.
Click to expand...

1. Me too. How does charging via a battery pack and playing via bluetooth prevent that? Works fine for me.

2. You hear the difference with the wind and car noise from driving with the speakers in your car? OK.
 
ectospheno said:
1. Me too. How does charging via a battery pack and playing via bluetooth prevent that? Works fine for me.
Click to expand...

It doesn't prevent anything, I have a permanent charging solution in my car that I'd like to use, I don't want to constantly remember to take a charging pack with me.

ectospheno said:
2. You hear the difference with the wind and car noise from driving with the speakers in your car? OK.
Click to expand...

I do, yes.

I have a great head unit and great speakers and I like to take advantage of the 328Kbps playback quality that my Spotify Premium offers.
 
ectospheno said:
1. Me too. How does charging via a battery pack and playing via bluetooth prevent that? Works fine for me.

2. You hear the difference with the wind and car noise from driving with the speakers in your car? OK.
Click to expand...
Plenty of today's cars (especially on the mid/higher end) don't have all that much wind/road/car noise when inside.
 
mpavilion said:
How do you create a silent track?
Click to expand...
I think I used Matlab, but it was so long ago, I don't remember for sure. I'm sure there are countless audio editors that can do it. Just make it mono and use the lowest bitrate available on your mp3 encoder.
 
Azzin said:
Hi all,

As per title really, I've got an i6 and when I connect it (via USB) to my Kenwood head unit, iTunes starts playing and it's REALLY annoying me now.

As it stands, I have to open the folder with the iTunes app in it, open iTunes and then fine "Now Playing" and press pause, when all I want to do is listen to the radio and charge my phone.

Help!
Click to expand...
I have a similar problem. If I am listening to a book on the Audible app on iPhone 6 and turn off the car, the next time I start the car, iTunes opens and begins playing. This occurs in both of our cars, which points to iTunes and not the radios. I have searched for a setting to prevent this, but have not found a solution. Very annoying
 
Pinninvest said:
I have a similar problem. If I am listening to a book on the Audible app on iPhone 6 and turn off the car, the next time I start the car, iTunes opens and begins playing. This occurs in both of our cars, which points to iTunes and not the radios. I have searched for a setting to prevent this, but have not found a solution. Very annoying
Click to expand...

Happens with my JVC stereo, as well, and drives me nuts since I prefer to use Google Music over iTunes/Apple Music. I now have a visceral hatred of the first few bars of Mars Volta's "A. Gust of Mutts". FWIW pressing the volume button on the stereo pauses it for me and gives me time to switch over to the actual music I'm trying to listen to.

For the previous poster (yeah, months back) - it makes waaay more sense for me to attach one little USB cable to both charge and get better audio quality than to hassle with attaching a portable battery pack and deal with crappy BT audio. In fact, lack of USB audio compatibility is part of what drove me back to iPhone from my brief dalliance with Android.
 
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