How to Stop Spotify from Automatically Playing [2023]

Part 1. How to Fix Spotify Playing Automatically

If Spotify is playing automatically without your request, there are a few possible solutions you can try:

Solution 1: Disable Autoplay

Autoplay is a feature that automatically plays recommended songs or similar tracks after your chosen playlist, album, or song has ended.

To disable Autoplay, go to Spotify > Settings (the Gear icon) > Playback > Autoplay similar songs, toggle off Autoplay similar songs to disable this setting.

Solution 2: Disable AI DJ

AI DJ is a feature that uses advanced technology to create a personalized music experience automatically after you enable it. Typically you will also get the commentary and insights about the music and artists before the AI DJ plays it for you. If you press the Play button on the DJ card, it will continue to play endlessly until you press Stop.

To disable AI DJ, all you need to do is to select the desired music to play manually. Go to Home > Music Feed > the DJ card > Stop, then exit out of it or hit play on another track, playlist.

Solution 3: Disable Crossfade

Crossfade is a feature that allows one song to smoothly transition into the next one. Though the Crossfade won't play music automatically on Spotify, it may give the impression that Spotify is playing automatically due to the smooth transitions, especially if the crossfade duration is low.

To disable crossfade, go to Spotify > Settings (the Gear icon) > Playback, and set the duration to 0, then the crossfade setting is turned off.

Solution 4: Disconnect other devices

If you have multiple devices connected to Spotify, such as a mobile phone, computer, or smart speaker, make sure none of them are inadvertently playing music. Spotify Connect will allow other devices that are connected with your Spotify account to control the music playback on your device, including playing/stopping music, switching music contents, and more.

To check the devices menu, go to Spotify > Settings > Devices > Devices menu, and check to see your other devices.

To log out your Spotify account everywhere, including your devices, go to the Account Overview page > Sign out everywhere.

Part 2. How to Stop Spotify from Playing Automatically in Car

To stop Spotify from playing automatically in your car, you can follow these steps on either Android or iOS device.

For Android:

For starters, you should turn off any related settings that may causing Spotify automatically playing, such as "Allow Background Activity".

To turn off Allow Background Activity:

1. On your Android device, open Settings > Apps > Spotify.
2. Scroll to Spotify in the list of apps.
3. Select Allow Background Activity, and turn off this setting.

If you are using Android Auto to play Spotify in your car, ensures to turn off both the "Automatically Resume Media" and "Wireless Android Auto" settings.

To turn off Automatically Resume Media:

1. On your Android device, open Settings > Advanced Features (or Connection & sharing)> Android Auto.
2. Scroll to General > Automatically Resume Media, and turn off this setting.
3. Meanwhile, scroll to System > Wireless Android Auto, and turn off this setting.

If you have the Android Auto app, you can also find and turn off the "Automatically Resume Media" setting there.

For iOS:

Firstly, you should turn off the "Handoff" setting, which may cause the automatic playback of music apps, such as Spotify.

To turn off Handoff:

1. On your iOS device, open Settings > General.
2. Scroll to Handoff, and turn off this setting.

If you are using Apple CarPlay to use media apps, including Spotify in your car, don't allow CarPlay for restrictions.

To not allow CarPlay for Content & Privacy Restrictions:

1. On your iOS device, open Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps.
2. Scroll to CarPlay, then toggle it off.

iOS users can also prevent Spotify from automatically starting or playing by using various ways, such as shortcuts or Clock apps.

To stop Spotify from automatically with Clock:

1. On your iOS device, open Clock > Timer.
2. Use the time picker to pick the interval time.
3. Tap the current sound's name (ex: Radar) next to When Timer Ends.
4. Scroll down to Stop Playing > Set. That way, Spotify or any other media playing will automatically stop when the timer reaches its end.

To stop Spotify from automatically with Shortcuts (Spotify App):

1. On your Ios device, open Shortcuts > Automation > Create Personal Automation.
2. Select App, then tap the Choose button next to it.
3. From the App list, select Spotify > Done.
4. Make sure to enable the "Is Opened" option by selecting it, then tap Next.
5. Tap Add Action > Search, then type "Play" to find the Play/Pause option under the Media section, and select it.
6. Once selected, click "Play/Pause" to select Pause (to stop Spotify from playing). Review the full action, which should now read "When Spotify is opened, Do Play/Pause". Optionally, you can enable the "Ask Before Running" option if you want the automation to ask for confirmation before executing.
7. The created shortcut should now appear as "When Spotify is opened Play/Pause".
8. The next time you open the Spotify app on your device, you should see a pop-up asking to run the shortcut, if you enable the "Ask Before Running" option in Step 6. That way, you should have successfully created an iOS shortcut that stops Spotify from automatically playing whenever you open the app.

Part 3. How to Stop Spotify from Playing Automatically with Bluetooth

Better still, if you are using iPhone or iPad and you found Spotify plays automatically every single time when paired with Bluetooth in your car, you can still prevent it by creating a shortcut.

To stop Spotify from automatically with Shortcuts (Bluetooth):

1. On your iOS device, open Shortcuts > Automation > Create Personal Automation.
2. Scroll down and tap on "Bluetooth" to choose Bluetooth as the trigger for the automation.
3. Tap on the Choose button next to Device to select your car device. At this time you car's Bluetooth device should be connected and appears in the list under "MY DEVICES".
4. Tap Done to confirm this device selection.
5. Tap Next to proceed.
6. In the Actions view, Tap on Add Action > Search, and type "Play" to find and select the Play/Pause action under the Media section.
7. Tap on Play/Pause to choose Pause to stop Spotify or other media from playing when paired with Bluetooth.
8. Review the action, which should now read "Pause on iPhone", then tap Next to continue.
9. Revie the automation, which should appear as "When [YourUsername's iPhone Model] connects to [Your Car's name]," then tap Done.

Part 4. Best Alternatives to Play Spotify on Any Devices Effortlessly

Some users have reported that even the issue can be fixed, the actual experience with these settings is not convenient as expected. If so, we'd like to introduce the best workaround to stream Spotify music in a car device with no issues. You can make Spotify music contents offline as local files.

How to Play Spotify in Car with 6 Methods

This post provides the 6 most popular and easiest ways for you to play Spotify music songs in your car via a cable, Bluetooth, Android Auto, CarPlay, or external drive/CD.

You can use one music converter - ViWizard Spotify Music Converter to download all your favorite music contents from Spotify into more universal formats - no Premium subscriptions requires. Once the conversion completes, the music files are DRM-free to activate on a car device with one USB drive.

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