Recently I’ve had a bout of the Music app randomly launching (“opening”) itself. It seems to just randomly pop up on its own accord. Looking online, I see this has been a problem for years—originally with the iTunes app, and now with its successor, the Music app.
For many people it’s Bluetooth audio devices (e.g., Bluetooth headphones, Apple iPods, etc.) causing the problem. In my case, I have no Bluetooth headphones. Yet for some of us, it’s a total mystery as to why Music app is launching. It can be rather bothersome, especially when it keeps happening every few minutes.
In forums and articles elsewhere, I see people suggesting all kinds of creative solutions. But I found that ultimately the best (simplest, and most reliable) solution is to use a small app called Notunes. I think it’s ridiculous people need to resort to such measures on a premium priced device such as an Apple computer. The developers at Apple need to wake up and listen to the music (pun intended), and add a simple preference option in the Music app allowing the user to disable auto-launching.
The Solution
You can get Notunes here, on Github.
If you use Homebrew (which I highly recommend, and provide instructions on here), it’s super easy to install. Just use this command:
brew install --cask notunesIf you don’t use Homebrew, you can download a Zip with the app here.
Problem solved. You’ll now have an icon in the top macOS menu bar that allows you to toggle on and off, whether or not you want iTunes or Music to launch on their own.
