Ugh - Must iPhone bring iTunes to front when it's plugged in?

[jocamero]

Hey guys,

Not sure what has changed, but possibly since I upgraded to 8.2 this behavior has ceased. If iTunes is not open when the iPhone is connected it launches iTunes and brings it into focus but I simply hide the window and later reconnect the iPhone, subsequent syncs allow iTunes to remain hidden.

Anyone else experiencing this?

 

[i-am-stewart]

Why are you syncing daily? If it's just the Address Book and Calendar, subscribe to MobileMe to sync over the air and you won't have to worry about plugging it in so frequently.

I'm not syncing daily, I'm just charging it via my laptop at work while I'm here.
I sync at least one a week for backups - this is done via me laptop at home.

 

[jocamero]

Just an update:

iTunes is still remaining hidden even after a reboot. I'd like to make sure this remains fixed; anyone have any ideas why mine all of a sudden works?

 

[MBHockey]

Just an update:

iTunes is still remaining hidden even after a reboot. I'd like to make sure this remains fixed; anyone have any ideas why mine all of a sudden works?

I'd like to think it's because Steve Jobs saw my thread

But really, I'm noticing the same behavior as you. Great stuff!

 

[sand0s]

in case anyone stumbles across this in the future. the solution to this problem (which I believe is windows only) is to kill the ituneshelper process and remove ituneshelper from the startup items in msconfig (it's simply labeled itunes). after doing that you should never have to bother with it until you update itunes. it's the helper that's recognizing the iphone/ipod/ipad being plugged in and starting itunes (or bringing it to the front). some help...

 

[orthorim]

Ok people you're confused here.

I quite like that iTunes syncs my phone every time I connect it. That's the way it should be.

What drives me crazy is that iTunes always pops to the front when that happens. It should remain in the background, and do its thing there.

Here's what I do now:
- Connect iPhone
- CMD-H (when iPhoto pops open)
- CMD-H (when iTunes pops to the foreground)

The only real solution posted above is to keep iTunes in its on spaces space - I might actually try that, that's not a bad idea at all. I don't use spaces so far but that might make it worth-while.

Same with photos. I like iPhoto to open so I can sync photos - but I don't want it to pop to the foreground. It seems like there would be a utility to prevent apps from automatically popping to the foreground, e.g. without me explicitly asking for that.... I never want that, really, it's always annoying. Only with iTunes and iPhoto it happens on a daily basis.

Edit: Yes, spaces works. Now iTunes is in #2, iPhoto is in #3, and I use #1. It works!!! Thanks so much, JBaker122586 - this solves THE daily annoyance I had with my Mac. Why they let apps interrupt people's workflow is beyond me?!

 

[drummingcraig]

In my opinion, it is quite obnoxious that EVERY time i plug in my iPhone it has to send iTunes to the forefront of all my open apps.

I plug it in when I come home from work to charge and sync it, but it does it all automatically so why does iTunes pop to the front like a nagging Windows app saying "HEY LOOK AT MEME!!!1111" every time I plug it in?

I turned off automatic sync when the iPhone is connected, but that didn't stop this obnoxious iTunes behavior. Any way around it?

Edit: I should mention that this happens because I usually keep iTunes minimized to the Dock, and it maximizes when I connect the phone -- which I guess makes logical sense. It doesn't do it if the window is hidden or simply in the background, which is nice.

This isn't a complete solution, but will help and you might find it useful in others areas...

Check out Afloat. Its freeware that allows you to pin open windows so they always stay "up front". You can even make them translucent while you're not actively using them, but then they become opaque when you mouse over them (very handy for iChat, etc). Again, won't stop iTunes from popping up, but should keep other windows in front of it.

http://infinite-labs.net/afloat/

 

[benfica88]

I believe ituneshelper.exe or applemobiledevice.exe controls this behavior. You can disable these in msconfig.

 

[orthorim]

I believe ituneshelper.exe or applemobiledevice.exe controls this behavior. You can disable these in msconfig.

No, that's not the same thing. You can set your iPhone to not open iTunes when connected. Disabling the helpers has the same effect. But I do want iTunes to sync automatically, I just don't want it to pop to the front.

I now playes with Spaces - if iTunes is in its own space (locked) it won't pop to the front when already running. It will, however, pop to the front when it's opening.

 

[DexLuther]

You can set your iPhone to not open iTunes when connected.

I don't know how many times people have to say it, but no you can't. At least not anymore.

It's a major annoyance. Not only will connecting an Ipod touch/iphone to charge it open Itunes if it's not already open, but it will always pop the window and take focus. I shouldn't have to hide windows or have to mess around with spaces, which isn't even an option for windows users. Every version of Itunes should come with the option to not open itunes at all, open it minimized, keep it minimized if already open, or the default launch and/or pop up to focus.

The fact that they don't have this very basic feature (or had it but removed it) is absolutely ridiculous, and quite frankly just gives us one more reason to just un-install the damn thing. There are other software coming out all the time that can add/remove music, videos, etc from your idevice while being a lot less intrusive than Itunes.

 

[orthorim]

Yeah - it's still annoying. The spaces solution is OK as long as you keep iTunes running all the time, but should I have closed it... very un-Apple, this behavior.

In general, I don't think ANY app should pop into the front automatically, EVER. I want to work undisturbed. It's not like lives are at stake when an iPhone is syncing.

I'd like an app to control that behavior.

 

[barkingDog]

There's a [Windows] registry hack within HKLM (under a subkey of \SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB) that can be modified to prevent iTunes from launching, but the post below is a better [safer] solution if available.

Disclaimer: Edit the registry at your own risk/peril.

 

[orthorim]

I don't know how many times people have to say it, but no you can't. At least not anymore.

Yes you can. I just took this screenshot, this is the latest iTunes / OS X / iPhone software, and yes there is an option. I made a big red arrow for you.

 

[barkingDog]

Yes you can. I just took this screenshot, this is the latest iTunes / OS X / iPhone software, and yes there is an option. I made a big red arrow for you.

That option, at least in Windows (on my system), was always grayed out. Maybe I fubar'ed my system along the way before I installed iTunes (it was a fresh Win 7 install before I [had to] put iTunes v10.x on it.) And I tweak all sorts of things after a fresh install.

But if it's there to check, much-o easier - yes.

 

[ryguy2303]

Yes you can. I just took this screenshot, this is the latest iTunes / OS X / iPhone software, and yes there is an option. I made a big red arrow for you.

I don't think your GB distribution adds up.

 

[orthorim]

I don't think your GB distribution adds up.

Indeed - weird. It claims there's only 14GB available but it's a 16GB model and I don't think OS X takes up more than 600MB or so, so all the system stuff should come in well under 1GB.

No idea why that is.

As for that checkbox being grayed out - that's strange. One thing I can imagine is that there is a global Windows setting that decides what happens when you connect a certain device (e.g. "open iTunes when iPhone connects") and that windows setting overrides the iTunes setting... maybe?!

 

[DexLuther]

As for that checkbox being grayed out - that's strange. One thing I can imagine is that there is a global Windows setting that decides what happens when you connect a certain device (e.g. "open iTunes when iPhone connects") and that windows setting overrides the iTunes setting... maybe?!

If that is so, then Windows would ask what action to perform or there would be some place to set it.

The only thing Windows has ever asked was to copy pictures from the device, but that stopped after one of the iOS updates.