noTunes

noTunes is a handy little app that stops Apple Music and iTunes from popping up when you connect certain Bluetooth headphones or even just hit the Play button on your keyboard. If you don’t have a subscription to Apple Music and prefer another service, this can be super frustrating!

How noTunes Works

This open-source app runs quietly in your menu bar. With just one click, you can turn it on or off. You can even choose to hide the icon from the menu bar if you want more space.

No More Auto-Launching Apps

If you're using an Apple keyboard with media keys, you know how annoying it is when hitting Play opens up Music or iTunes instead of whatever you're actually listening to—like Spotify! Sometimes it doesn't pause the track like it should; instead, it just launches the wrong app.

Bluetooth Headphone Troubles

You might also notice that connecting certain Bluetooth headphones triggers iTunes or Apple Music to open. This doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, it's really frustrating. Luckily, noTunes fixes this by checking for those pesky processes and shutting them down as soon as they’re detected.

Customizing Your Experience

Now, keep in mind that while noTunes blocks these apps from launching automatically, it also means you can't start them manually while it's running. But don’t worry! You can easily disable its function right from the menu bar whenever you want.

Hiding the Menu Bar Icon

If you'd like to hide the menu bar icon, that's totally possible through its context menu. Just a heads up: if you ever want to bring it back, you'll need to use a Terminal command as explained by the developer here.

The Bottom Line

If you've had enough of Apple Music or iTunes crashing your party uninvited, noTunes is definitely worth checking out. It’s a solid fix until Apple decides to let us customize things better or fix those auto-launch bugs!