How to Stop Spotify from Automatically Playing

For drivers, the Spotify music service has been convenient all the time that allows them stream music directly from the car or mobile devices, but it's a streaming music service. As it stands now, a significant number of Spotify app users are reporting frustrating experiences with the Spotify app in the phone and car devices, that is, Spotify playing automatically.

No worries. We'd collect methods on the mobile device to stop Spotify from starting or playing automatically. Now pick up your device to see how these methods work.

Part 1. Adjust Settings to Fix Spotify Not Working on Apple CarPlay

App Features - how to stop Spotify from starting/playing automatically

When it comes to Spotify Playback errors, the Spotify starting or playing Automatically issue is with some frustrating features - AutoPlay and Smart Shuffle.

1. Turn Off AutoPlay

On iOS & Android: open Spotify app for mobile > Settings > Playback > Autoplay, then turn off this option. After that, reopen the app to see if the issue has been fixed.

2. Disable Smart Shuffle

On iOS & Android: Since there's no option to turn off the Smart Shuffle option, there're some workarounds to disable it in this article: How to Turn On & Off Spotify Smart Shuffle.

Phone Settings - how to stop Spotify from starting/playing automatically

Step 1 Download the InShot app from the Apple store or Google Play store, and then open the app on your phone.

For Android to turn off Battery setting:

Go to Settings > Apps > Spotify > Battery > Allow Background Activity, then turn off this option.

For iOS to turn off Handoff:

Go to Settings > General > Handoff, then turn off this option.

For iOS to use Timer to stop:

From the Home Screen, go to the Clock > Timer, then use the time picker to pick the interval time. After that, tap the current option (for example: Radar) next to When Timer Ends.

Scroll down to Stop Playing > Set. Instead, Spotify will automatically stop on iPhone

For iOS to use Shortcuts to pause:

Step 1 On iOS, from the Home Screen to open shortcuts app > Automation > Plus icon > Create Personal Automation > App, then tap the Choose button next to App. From the App list, choose Spotify > Done, make sure to check "Is Opened" option > Next.

Step 2 After that, tap Add Action > Search, then enter "Play" or "Pause" to find the Play/Pause option under Media section. Once selected, click "Play/Pause" to select Pause, then see the full action as "When 'Spotify' is opened Do Play/Pause" with the Ask Before Running option on.

Step 3 See the created shortcut as "When 'Spotify' is opened Play/Pause". Next time the Spotify app for mobile is opened, there'll be a pop-up like this.

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

Both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are built-in features that many cars now offer with Spotify. While Apple CarPlay and Android Auto can be convenient, they are quite suspicious because they don't need much permissions to connect Spotify to your car.

5. For Android to turn off Android Auto:

Go to Settings > Advanced Features > Android Auto > Automatically resume media and Wireless Android Auto, then turn off these 2 settings.

For iOS to turn off Apple CarPlay:

Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps > CarPlay, then turn off CarPlay.

For iOS to use Shortcuts to disconnect Apple CarPlay:

From the Home Screen to open Shortcuts app > Automation > Plus icon > Create Personal Automation > CarPlay. You can see when the CarPlay is connected, then choose Disconnects.

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

When the Spotify is playing automatically, you can choose to turn off the BT connection as well as the cellular data on iOS and Android device.

For iOS to use Shortcuts to cut off Bluetooth

Step 1 Open shortcuts app > Automation > Plus icon > Create Personal Automation > Bluetooth, then click Choose next to Device. In the new view, you'll see [Your Car's name] under MY DEVICES section.

Note:If [Your Car's name] didn't show under MY DEVICES section, please confirm the BT connection to the car device.

Step 2 Once the device is selected, tap the Done button to go back to the previous view to New Automation, then tap the Next button. This will direct you to the Actions view, then tap Add Action > Search for "Pause" or "Play" > Media > Play/Pause.

Step 3When the "Play/Pause on iPhone" action is selected, click the "Play/Pause" to select Pause. After that, the action is "Pause on iPhone" > Next > Done to back to Automation.

See the created shortcut as "When [Your Username's iPhone Model] connects to [Your Car's name]" when the BT is connected to the car device. Done! This should fix the Spotify from automatically playing with Bluetooth connection on iPhone.

Part 4. Best Alternative to Enable Spotify on Apple CarPlay

Some users have reported that even the issue can be fixed, the actual experience with these settings are 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.

You can use one music converter - ViWizard Spotify Music Converter to download all your favorite music contents from Spotify into more uninversal 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.

Adam Gorden is an experienced writer of ViWizard who is obsessed about tech, movie and software.