How to Stop Spotify from Automatically Playing - Bluetooth/Car

By Charles Davis Updated on 2023-12-01 / Update for Spotify Tips

Most of the time, Spotify gives users an enjoyable music streaming service, but at the same time users also encounter some problems such as Spotify automatically plays when connected to Bluetooth. Especially when the popular streaming platform made its way into cars, Spotify starts playing by itself, which largely impacted the listening experience.

If you're looking for ways to stop Spotify from automatically playing, here is the right place. This article discusses possible causes and a few proven tips to fix this issue on iPhone and Android when playing in car or connected to Bluetooth.

how to stop spotify from automatically playing

Part 1. Why Does Spotify Automatically Play?

Sometimes, when Spotify finishes an album or all the songs in a playlist, it will automatically play other suggested songs from the library. Here are a few reasons causing that Spotify plays automatically:

💡Autoplay Feature:

Spotify has an Autoplay feature that automatically starts playing music or recommends similar tracks when your current playlist or album ends. It is designed for a continuous listening experience.

💡Connected Devices:

The Autoplay setting is by default activated on all linked devices. If you have Spotify connected to multiple devices via Bluetooth or Spotify Connect, etc., such as your computer, phone, or smart speaker, the app might automatically play on one of these devices if it detects activity.

💡Queue Settings:

If you have a queue set up in the Spotify app, it might automatically play the next song in the queue after the current one finishes.

See Also: How to Clear Spotify Queue

Fortunately, there are ways to fix this problem, so read on to learn more about the solution to stop Spotify from playing automatically.

Part 2. How to Stop Spotify from Playing Automatically When Connected to Bluetooth

The key causes why Spotify automatically plays when connected to Bluetooth are primarily centered around user convenience and seamless integration. For example, your Bluetooth devices will automatically play music as a part of the auto-connect process only if they come in range. Or if your Spotify Autoplay feature is enabled, it will automatically start playing recommended songs when connected to Bluetooth. Therefore, to fix this issue, consider the following steps:

How to Turn Off Spotify Autoplay When Connected to Bluetooth

The Autoplay feature makes Spotify play random songs after all songs in a Spotify playlist have been played. This feature is turned on by default. If you want to prevent Spotify from automatically playing on connected Bluetooth devices, you must turn off Autoplay on Spotify.

How to Stop Spotify Autoplay on Android/iPhone

Step 1. Open the Spotify app on iOS and Android.

Step 2. Open the gear icon in the top right corner and go to the Settings menu.

Step 3. Select Playback > Autoplay and tap the switch to gray to turn it off.

turn off spotify autoplay android and iphone

How to Stop Spotify Autoplay on PC/Mac

Step 1. Open Spotify app on your computer and click on your profile picture in the top-right corner.

Step 2. Select "Settings" option and scroll down to find the "Autoplay" toggle and switch it off.

stop spotify autoplay computer

Check Bluetooth Settings for Automatic Music Play

If Spotify Autoplay is off, but still playing, you can check your device's Bluetooth settings. The option related to auto-playing music when connected to Bluetooth devices is enabled. You need to check the settings under Bluetooth settings depends on your devices.

disable start playback when device connect

Part 3. How to Stop Spotify from Automatically Playing in Car

When you want to get Spotify to stop playing automatically in your car, apart from disabling Spotify Autoplay, there are some ways to do it. For Android users, you can disable the Android Auto feature or toggle off the 'Start Music Automatically' feature in the Android Auto settings. If you're using an iPhone, you can try to disconnect from Apple CarPlay, use Siri commands or force quit the Spotify app.

How to Stop Spotify from Playing Automatically in Car Android

Android Auto is a great way to interact with your car to listen to music, navigate, make calls and more. It makes it easy for you to connect Spotify to your car. In order to stop Spotify from automatically playing in car Android, you need to disable Android Auto or its music autoplay feature.

Turn Off Android Auto

Step 1. Navigate to the phone's Settings and tap on the "Apps & Notifications" option.

Step 2. Tap "See all apps", scroll down and select Android Auto from the list.

Step 3. Hit on the "Disable" button to turn off this setting. Or find the "Start Music Automatically" option and end it.

See Also: Spotify Not Working on Android Auto? Fixed!

stop spotify from automatically playing in car android

How to Stop Spotify from Automatically Playing in Car iPhone

Similarly, Apple CarPlay is a built-in feature now available in many cars that allows users to easily sync their iPhone with their vehicle. You can turn off Apple CarPlay to stop Spotify from starting automatically in car.

Turn off Apple CarpPlay

Step 1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

Step 2. Select "Screen Time" and "Content & Privacy Restrictions".

Step 3. Click Allowed Apps and toggle the CarPlay button to gray to turn it off.

See Also: Spotify Apple CarPlay Not Working/Showing? Fixed!

stop spotify from automatically playing in car iphone

Extra Tips to Stop Spotify Automatically Playing in Car

Use Voice Commands to Stop. In fact, you can also use voice commands to control what your mobile device plays at any time. For example: Siri, stop playing, and your iPhone will turn off any sound that's playing, including Spotify music.

View also: How to Use Siri with Spotify

Force Quit Spotify App. If Spotify continues to stay active in the background to automatically play songs, the most straightforward solution is to force close the Spotify app. Take iPhone as an example, you can do this by swiping up from the bottom of your iPhone and lifting your finger in the center of the screen. When the App Switcher appears, swipe right to position the Spotify screen and swipe up to close it.

Check Car Infotainment System. If your car has its own infotainment system, navigate to the settings menu. Look for any settings related to Bluetooth or media playback and disable the auto-play feature.

Part 4. How to Stop Spotify from Starting Automatically on Android/iPhone

Songs in your Spotify library will always auto play unless you have the settings in your Android or iPhone device. This can be annoying if you only want to listen to one Spotify song or an entire album before continuing your day. So follow the few available ways below to stop Spotify from auto playing on iPhone or on Android. (Notes: Since we've already covered how to turn off Spotify Autoplay, we won't go over it again here.)

Turn off Allow Background Activity

You can disable background activity, as this feature allows Spotify to use data in the background as well as play music when the app is not active. If you find that Spotify is still playing music automatically, you can follow the steps below to disable the ability to listen to Spotify on the off screen.

Step 1. Go to the Settings menu of your phone and find the Apps section.

Step 2. Scroll to find Spotify, tap Battery settings, and disable the Allow Background Activity feature.

turn off spotify background activity

Cut Off Bluetooth

When you connect your phone to your car or other devices via Bluetooth, Spotify may start playing the last song you listened to automatically. You can refer to the following tutorial to cut off Bluetooth connection.

Step 1. Open the Shortcuts app on your iOS device and select Automation > Plus icon > Create Personal Automation > Bluetooth.

Step 2. Then tap Choose next to Device and select the name of your car in the My Devices section.

shortcuts bluetooth device

Step 3. Tap the Done button to go back to New Automation and hit the Next button.

Step 4. Click Add Action, search for Play/Pause in the search bar and select it under Media.

play and pause actions

Step 5. Check the Play/Pause on iPhone action and select Pause. Hit Pause on iPhone > Next > Done button to go back to Automation.

pause on iphone

Step 6. After that, Spotify will not play automatically when the phone is connected to Bluetooth speakers.

Use Timer

If you're the kind of person who falls asleep listening to music, you'll want Spotify music to stop playing automatically when you fall asleep. As for how to do it, you can use the Spotify sleep timer on your phone to stop Spotify music from playing after a specific time.

Step 1. Open the Clock application on your phone and select the "Timer" button.

Step 2. Set the desired interval time and click on the "When Timer Ends" option.

Step 3. Scroll to the bottom and select "Stop Playing" and then click the "Set" button.

Step 4. Click the "Start" button and the Timer will start working to stop playing music after a certain period of time.

timer stop spotify from auto playing

Use Shortcuts

Similar to the above, you can use the Shortcuts app on your iPhone to create an automatic timer to stop Spotify from auto playing.

Step 1. Open the Shortcuts application and select the Automation option at the bottom.

Step 2. Tap the Create Personal Automation button, hit Apps and select Spotify in the list of apps.

create personal automation

Step 3. Click Add Action and select the Play/Pause option in the Media area.

Step 4. The next time you open the Spotify mobile app, it will prompt a "When Spotify is opened Play/Pause" pop-up.

pause when spotify is opened

Disable Spotify Queue

If you accidentally activated the queue feature in the Spotify app, it will automatically play the next song in the queue or in your existing playlist. You can turn it off to avoid it below:

Step 1. Step 1. Open the Spotify desktop application on your computer.

Step 2. In the bottom right corner, you'll find the "Queue" icon (three horizontal lines). When it is enabled, the icon is green. Click on it to disable it.

disable queue to stop spotify  autoplay

Part 5. Best Way to Play Spotify Music without Autoplay

Is it possible to stop Spotify from playing automatically on any device in person? Here's a once and for all method, which is to use AudFree Spotify Music Converter. With it, you can simply download Spotify songs to your computer locally and convert them to MP3, FLAC, WAV and so on. After that, you can transfer Spotify to the desired device for offline playback without Spotify app.

This way, you don't have to worry about Spotify enabling the Autoplay feature. In addition, downloaded Spotify songs will keep lossless sound quality and all ID3 tags. You can even customize output parameters such as sample rate, channel, bit rate, etc. to enhance Spotify sound quality. Then you have the freedom to control Spotify playback as you wish on any device and media player.

AudFree Spotify Music Converter

audfree spotify music converter
  • Download Spotify music, playlists, albums, podcasts, etc. with lossless quality
  • Convert Spotify to MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV, FLAC, M4B
  • Stop Spotify from automatically playing forever
  • Preserve Spotify with original audio quality and full ID3 tags

How to Make Spotify Stop Playing Automatically Forever

Step 1. Once you launch AudFree Spotify Music Converter on your computer, the Spotify app will open automatically after a few seconds. Locate the songs you like in the Spotify app, then drag and drop these songs directly into the main interface of the converter for importing.

add spotify songs to audfree spodable

Step 2. Click Menu > Preferences to launch the settings window. Here, tap the Convert column to set the output audio parameters. There are six output formats for you to choose from, including FLAC, WAV, MP3, AAC, M4A and M4B. In addition, you can also edit parameters such as bit rate, sample rate and audio channel for Spotify music.

adjust output settings for spotify music

Step 3. Hit the "Convert" button to start saving your selected Spotify music to your computer locally. Just wait for a while and you can tap the "Converted" button to browse all the downloaded Spotify songs in your history. Then you can control Spotify songs anytime and anywhere without worrying about auto playing.

get spotify to stop playing automatically forever

Part 6. In Conclusion

With the above solutions, it is easy to stop Spotify from automatically playing. You can try them one by one to fix the error. By the way, the best way to avoid this problem is to use AudFree Spotify Music Converter to download Spotify songs locally. This way, you can transfer Spotify music to any media player you like for offline enjoyment without any problem.

Charles Davis

Charles Davis

Chief Editor

(Click to rate this post)
Charles Davis is the chief-editor of AudFree Company, who writes a variety of tech articles and music reviews, such as hot software releases and Spotify music tips.
spodable

AudFree SpoDable

Download Spotify songs, playlists, audiobooks, and podcasts to MP3, etc. with ease.