*Solved* Music starts playing when headphones are unplugged
by Vaelek on Jul.23, 2009, under Tips & Tricks
Has this happened to anyone? You’ve got headphones or external speakers plugged into the headphone jack with nothing playing, and when you unplug them, music starts playing on the built in speaker?
I have run into this several times. Upon trying to search for a cause/solution, I found that I am hardly alone with this issue. I have a theory and need your help to confirm it. I do not have the special Apple audio cable/adapter, I simply use regular headphones or a car tape adapter with it. I believe the problem may only occur when the headphone jack is being used WITHOUT a crApple proprietary audio adapter. I have had this problem since 2.x so I do not believe it is a software bug.
While it continues to happen, I have not been able to reliably reproduce it at will.
Has this happened to you? Are you using an Apple audio cable/adapter, or something with a standard headphone plug? Found a solution?
Go
SOLVED
I purchased an Apple audio adapter (ebay of course) and have confirmed the cause of this issue. The Apple adapter has one extra contact on the plug. There is also a button that, depending on how many times is pressed or how long is held, will perform certain actions such as voice command, starting / stopping music, skipping tracks, etc.
The second I discovered that 1 short push of the button toggles music playback, it was pretty obvious what’s going on. A standard headphone plug (non-Apple) will have 3 total contacts (left, right, ground). The one that is furthest from the tip is split in 2 on the Apple adapter. I believe the button on the Apple adapter crosses these contacts to perform the user actions. So basically, what it comes down to, is when you insert or remove a standard headphone plug, because the contact is so long, it bridges the contacts inside your phone and completes the same circuit the little button would, causing the music playback to toggle.
So if you are having this issue, your options are either to live with it, or fork over a few bucks for the adapter. DO NOT BUY IT FROM APPLE unless getting ripped off makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Go look on EBay, I got mine for less than $2.
(Just because some people will need this to be said, this goes for any cables you might need. A $40 cable from Apple (of whatever variety) can be found on EBay for 1/10 that price.
July 30th, 2009 on 2:23 pm
I have this problem with the supplied apple head phones. It seems to happen more when i am on a call with the headphones. then i end the call by using the on screen button. Then i remove the headphones from the jack and music starts playing. Next call i get i'll test it out to see if it is related to being in a call.
August 10th, 2009 on 7:26 pm
I have this issue when I attach my iPhone to my car stereo with a non-Apple adapter. I can turn the iPhone music off and then unplugging or turning the car off will start the music up again. I also have the occasional case where, if I ignore an incoming call, it sets off the music. Very annoying. No solution found yet.
August 10th, 2009 on 9:32 pm
I believe I have solved the issue, and it does lie with not using the Apple audio adapter.
I will update the post shortly with the technical specifics of why this happens.
August 17th, 2009 on 10:26 am
i had same problem and "reset all settings" fixed it.