Why Is My iPhone Playing Music with No Apps Open? Fixed!

If your iPhone is playing music by itself, you want it to stop as soon as possible! This problem is super annoying and disruptive, but don't worry; we know how to stop music from automatically playing on your iPhone.

Jump To:

• Check Sounds & Haptics Settings
• Unpair Headphones, Earbuds & Speakers
• Check for Installed Shortcuts
• Unsync Your Music Library & Resync
• Delete the Music App & Reinstall It
• FAQ

How to Stop Music from Automatically Playing on iPhone & iPad: Quick Fixes

Why did my iPhone start playing music by itself?! There are lots of reasons this could be happening. Before we get into the more involved, let's check a few simple things:

1. First, double-check to be sure apps aren't running in the background by opening the App Switcher and closing any music-related apps.
2. If Apple Music was open in the background, turn off Autoplay in Apple Music to stop music from automatically playing on your iPhone. 

Now that you're sure background apps have nothing to do with your iPhone playing music by itself, there are a few more easy fixes to try:

1. Make sure your iPhone or iPad is updated to the latest version of iOS or iPadOS.
2. Try a hard reboot.

If these preliminary steps don't turn off the unwanted music on your iPhone, read on.

Check Sounds & Haptics Settings

It's possible your iPhone is playing music with no apps open because you have a song set as a ringtone or notification. To check if this is the case:

1. Open the Settings app.
   
   
2. Tap Sounds & Haptics. 
   
   
3. Check your Ringtone and Text Tone to see if they have a song rather than a ringtone.
   
   
4. If this is the issue, you can change your ringtone or text tone if the selected song is annoying you.
5. You can also check the other categories under Ringtone and Text Tone to see if you've accidentally chosen a song for those notifications. It's unlikely you have, but it's worth looking!

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Unpair Headphones, Earbuds & Speakers

If your iPhone is playing music by itself, it could be due to a faulty device connected via Bluetooth. If this problem happens while you're using a particular Bluetooth device, disconnect the Bluetooth device and see if the problem stops. If so, try using a different speaker or set of headphones to see if the problem resolves. If so, it means that your old Bluetooth device was at fault!

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Check for Installed Shortcuts

Could a shortcut be causing your iPhone to play music with no apps open? It's unlikely, unless someone is playing an elaborate prank on you, but it's easy to check.

1. Open the Shortcuts app.
   
   
2. Tap the Shortcuts tab at the bottom of the page, then scroll down through your shortcuts to see if there's one that could be causing music to play automatically.
   
   
3. If so, delete the Shortcut and wait to see if the problem has been resolved. If not, read on!

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Unsync Your Music Library & Resync

This trick for how to stop music from automatically playing on your iPhone is a bit convoluted, but has worked for many people. Essentially, it's a way to reset your Apple Music app if it's glitching. You can follow the same steps of unsyncing from iCloud, logging out of the app, rebooting your iPhone, and logging back in for any music app that's glitching in this way.

Here's what to do:

1. Open the Settings app.
   
   
2. Tap Music.
   
   
3. Toggle off Sync Library.
   
   
4. Reboot your iPhone or iPad, then toggle on Sync Library again.

Hopefully, this has stopped iPhone music playing by itself. If not, read on.

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Delete the Music App & Reinstall It

Whatever music app is acting up, you can often update the app to fix the glitch. If your app is updated, delete the app, restart your iPhone or iPad, then reinstall the app. 

I hope we've stopped music from automatically playing on your iPhone by now! Be sure to check out our free Tip of the Day for more great iPhone troubleshooting tutorials.

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