There are times when it can seem like your iPhone has a mind of its own, and nowhere is this more routinely apparent for many folks than when jumping in the car and connecting to Bluetooth or CarPlay.
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Generally, your iPhone will continue playing whatever you were last listening to, but every so often it will just start a seemingly random playlist, while other times it won’t play anything at all, even when you’d prefer that it did.
Sadly, you won’t find any obvious way to control this in your iPhone’s Settings app. But the good news is that there are some tricks you’re able to use to take control of the situation thanks to Apple’s relatively new Shortcuts automation tool. Whether that’s guaranteeing you have a silent commute or automatically queuing up your favorite playlist for each trip, Shortcuts has you covered.
Playing a specific album or playlist when getting in the car
If you have a list of your favorite tunes that you want to enjoy each time you hit the road, you may easily make sure that’s what plays as soon as your iPhone links up with your in-car Bluetooth or CarPlay system. Here’s how.
Step 1:On your iPhone, open theShortcutsapp.
Step 2:Tap theAutomationbutton at the bottom.
Step 3:Tap the+button in the top-right corner to create a new automation.
Step 4:TapCreate Personal Automationto create a shortcut automation that runs on your iPhone.
Step 5:TapCarPlayif your vehicle supports CarPlay, or scroll down and tapBluetoothif you’re using a Bluetooth in-car system.
Step 6:If you’ve selected CarPlay, ensureConnectsis selected.
Step 7:If you’ve selected Bluetooth, you’ll need to choose which Bluetooth device this automation applies to — in this case, your car. Tap theChoosebutton besideDeviceto bring up a list of Bluetooth devices that are paired with your iPhone, and tap the name of your vehicle’s in-car Bluetooth system. Then tapDone.
Step 8:Once you’ve confirmed your CarPlay or Bluetooth settings, tapNext.
Step 9:Tap theAdd Actionbutton on the next screen.
Step 10:Tap in theSearch for apps and actionsfield and type “Music.”
Step 11:From the results, tap the blue plus button to the right ofPlay Music. APlay (Music)action will be added to your shortcut.
Step 12:Tap theMusicplaceholder to select what you would like to play.
Step 13:From here, either tap theArtists, Song, Lyrics, and Morefield to search for a specific item, or browse using the options provided. For example, you can tapLibraryto browse your personal music collection for a playlist, artist, or album, orBrowseto browse the Apple Music catalog.
You can also explore theRadiosection to choose a specific Apple Music radio station to play each time instead, which is a great option if you want a bit of variety.
Step 14:To select an entire album, artist, or playlist, tap the+button in the top-right corner to add the entire list.
Step 15:Once you’ve selected a song, album, artist, playlist, or radio station, you’ll be returned to the Actions screen.
Step 16:Tap theright-pointing arrowbeside the name of your selected music to show the playback options.
Step 17:TapShuffleorRepeatto choose whether you want to shuffle or repeat the playlist each time you get in the car.
Step 18:When everything here is customized to your liking, tapNextin the top-right corner.
Step 19:Tap the switch besideAsk Before Runningto toggle it off. Otherwise, you’ll have to confirm that you would like to run the shortcut each time you get in the car, which kind of defeats the purpose.
Step 20:TapDon’t Askto confirm that you really do want to run the automation without being asked.
Step 21:In the top-right corner, tapDoneto save the new automation.
Playing your favorite podcast when getting in the car
You can use the same method described above to play a podcast of your choice instead of a music album or playlist. Simply search for “Podcasts” instead of “Music,” add thePlay Podcastaction, and then choose the specific Podcast that you’d like to play when you get in the car.
Preventing automatic playback when getting in the car
If you’d prefer the sound of silence during your travels, or you’d prefer the freedom to make your choices on the fly, you can use the same method to create a shortcut that pauses your playback when your iPhone connects to your vehicle’s infotainment system.
Step 3:Tap the Plus button in the top-right corner to create a new automation.
Step 7:If you’ve selected Bluetooth, you’ll need to choose which Bluetooth device this automation applies to — in this case, your car. Tap theChoosebutton beside “Device” to bring up a list of Bluetooth devices that are paired with your iPhone, and tap the name of your vehicle’s in-car Bluetooth system. Then tapDone.
Step 10:Tap in theSearch for apps and actionsfield and type “Pause.”
Step 11:From the results, tap the blueplusbutton to the right of Play/Pause. A “Play/Pause on iPhone” action will be added to your shortcut.
Step 12:By default, this toggles the current playback state. TapPlay/Pauseto change this behavior.
Step 13:From the menu that appears, tapPause.
Step 14:TapNextin the top-right corner.
Step 15:Tap the switch besideAsk Before Runningto toggle it off.
Step 16:TapDon’t Askto confirm.
Step 17:In the top-right corner, tapDoneto save the new automation.
In this case, when your iPhone connects to CarPlay or your in-car Bluetooth system, it will immediately run the shortcut telling the iPhone to pause whatever is playing. Note that you might hear a brief second or two of playback before this kicks in, depending on how your vehicle’s system works.
Choosing a specific playlist for your morning commute
There’s a lot of power baked into Apple’sShortcutsapp, so with a bit of extra customization, you can choose to play certain playlists based on the time of day. For example, if you’d like your morning commute to begin with happy, energizing music, but don’t want to hear anything on your evening drive home, you can do this by adding a time condition to your shortcut.
Step 10:Tap in theSearch for apps and actionsfield and type “Date.”
Step 11:Tap theDateoption that appears underCalendar. A new “Current Date” block should be added to your shortcut.
Step 12:UnderNext Action SuggestionstapFormat Dateto add an additional block to format the current date. This is necessary to get the current time.
Step 13:Tap the right-pointing arrow besideDateto expand the block.
Step 14:TapShortbesideDate Formatand then tapNone. This removes the date portion of the current date, leaving only the time.
Step 15:You then need to convert this date to a numeric value. To accomplish this, tap the search field at the bottom of the Shortcuts app, type “numbers,” and from the results that appear, chooseGet Numbers from Input. This should add a block that readsGet numbers from Formatted Date.
Step 16:Tap in theSearch for apps and actionsfield again and type “If.” From the results that appear, tapIfto add an If/Otherwise/EndIf block.
Step 17:In the “IF” block, tap theConditionplaceholder.
Step 18:From the menu that appears, tapIs Less Than.
Step 19:Tap theNumberplaceholder, and type the hour of the day before which you want music to play, such as “12” for 12:00 noon.
Step 20:Tap in theSearch for apps and actionsfield again, type “Music.”
Step 21:From the results, tap the blue plus button to the right ofPlay Music. A “Play (Music)” action will be added to your shortcut.
Step 22:Tap theMusicplaceholder to select what you would like to play.
Step 23:From here, either tap theArtists, Song, Lyrics, and Morefield to search for a specific item, or browse using the options provided.
Step 24:To select an entire album, artist, or playlist, tap the+button in the top-right corner to add the entire list.
Step 25:Once you’ve selected a song, album, artist, playlist, or radio station, you’ll be returned to the Actions screen.
Step 26:Tap the right-pointing arrow beside the name of your selected music to show the playback options.
Step 27:TapShuffleorRepeatto choose whether you want to shuffle or repeat the playlist each time you get in the car.
Step 28:Tap on thePlay Musicblock and drag it up and drop it between the “IF” and “OTHERWISE” blocks.
Step 29:When everything here is customized to your liking, tapNextin the top-right corner.
Step 30:Tap the switch besideAsk Before Runningto toggle it off.
Step 31:TapDon’t Askto confirm that you really do want to run the automation without being asked.
Step 32:In the top-right corner, tapDoneto save the new automation.
This will result in your chosen playlist or other music playing only when you connect to your in-car infotainment system in the morning. The shortcut will still run every time you get in the car, but the “IF” block will prevent anything from playing unless the conditions are met.
Note that if you wanted to do something different at other times of the day, such as choosing a different playlist, or vetoing automatic playback, you’re able to also add a Play Music or Play/Pause action to theOtherwiseblock in the above shortcut, and this will be run whenever you get in your car and the time conditions haven’t been met. We’ll leave this one as an exercise for the reader.
