The good thing about Apple Watch is that it automatically displays the Now Playing screen when you play and listen to a song on your iPhone or any other Apple device. It gives users a quick and easy way to control music playback with access to play/pause and seek buttons on your Watch. You can also just spin the watch’s Digital Crown physical dial to adjust the volume. However, not all Apple Watch users are happy with this feature. In fact, most of them loathe having to deal with the endless pop-ups of the playback controls on their Watch screen.
Apparently, Apple did not think the way its intended users think. People wouldn’t want to play music on an iPhone and control it on their Watch. They have other uses for their smartwatches in mind when they wake the device or raise it, like watching the time perhaps?
If you are like the gazillion of other Apple Watch owners who are annoyed and want to disable the automatic Now Playing screen on their wearable device, you are in luck as that’s exactly what we are going to discuss today. This guide is applicable for watchOS 5, watchOS 6, and watchOS 7.
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How to Disable Apple Watch Now Playing Screen Auto-Launch on iPhone
You can disable the Now Playing feature from auto-launching on your Apple Watch smartwatch when you wake the device easily. To do this on your iPhone follow these steps:
- Go to the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Under the My Watch tab, scroll down to the General section.
- Find the Wake Screen setting, and turn off the Auto-launch Audio Apps to disable the feature.
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How to Turn Off Now Playing Music Control Feature from Auto-launching on Apple Watch
You can also turn off this pretty much annoying feature right within your Apple Watch settings. Follow the guide below:
- Spin the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch to view the app launcher or simply go to the home screen.
- Open the Settings by tapping on its icon.
- Then, find the General setting and tap on the Wake Screen option.
- From there, find the Auto-Launch Audio Apps option and turn it off.
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That’s it! If you want to enable the Now Playing option again, just do the same process on your Apple Watch or iPhone and then just toggle it on. However, even with the Now Playing feature off, you can still access the playback controls if you open the Music app on your watch.