How to Fix Background Music or Video Music Stops Playing After Opening a Website on iOS: Step by Step Guide
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How to Fix Background Music or Video Music Stops Playing After Opening a Website on iPhone in Safari
This step by step guide and solution was manually verified to work as expected on iPhone 15 running iOS 18.3.2.
On iPhone (iOS device) many people are irritated that background music or background video just stops playing after opening a website in Safari. This is very, very annoying! This typically happens for news websites and similar online resources with online ads. These online ads, even if they are not a video, can cause the music to stop playing because they play their own audio (even muted).
Probably you've already tried to turn off auto-playing for media in iOS settings, but it didn't help! But here is the proven and verified step by step instruction to fix this problem forever in Safari on your iPhone (iOS):
Step 1: Open "Settings" on your iPhone
To start, open "Settings" on your iPhone and press into its search bar on the top of all settings:
Step 2: Find "Per App" settings and use "Add App"
Now type in Per App and this will list all found items for "Per App". Press on the Add App item in the search results as shown below:
Step 3: In "Per App" Settings need to add "Safari"
This will open "Per App" settings screen which looks like this: Press into its search bar
Now type in Safari and select Safari from the search results as shown below:
This will add Safari into the list of apps in App Customization section.
Step 4: Open app-specific settings for "Safari"
Press Safari in this list to open settings which are specific for Safari:
The screen with settings specific for Safari will be opened:
Step 5: Finally find and disable "Auto Play Video Previews" option
This screen contains many options. But we need to focus on the Auto Play Video Previews option.
Scroll down this screen and press on the Auto Play Video Previews option:
This will open a new screen with options for Auto Play Video Previews for Safari.
Press on the Off option to select it as shown below:
Step 6: Finally, re-start Safari and try how it works!
Finally, close Safari to apply the changes. Use the gesture to open the list of apps. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen for Safari preview to close it.
Now open Safari again and try to open some news websites. Finally, you will see and hear that background music or video will continue playing irregarding of websites you open in Safari.
Troubleshooting
I've updated all settings but it still does not work on some websites?
Try additionally disable Auto-play option in General - Accessibility - Motion settings which should apply to all apps including Safari.
If it doesn't help, try to close Safari and open it again. For some uknown reason it helps sometimes.
Alternative solutions
- StopTheMadness - a paid iOS ($10)app that blocks annoying auto-playing media on websites in Safari. Also it includes some features like unblocks copy-paste support on websites etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why does my music stop playing when I open websites on iPhone?
This happens because iOS automatically pauses background audio when a website with auto-playing media (like videos or ads) is opened. Even if these media elements are muted, iOS still detects them and pauses your music.
2. Why does disabling Auto Play in general Accessibility settings not help?
For some unknown reason, this option does not work for Safari unless you create app-specific accessibility option that applies specifically to Safari and disabling auto-play media there.
3. Will this fix work for all websites?
Yes, once you disable the "Auto Play Video Previews" option for Safari, your background music should continue playing regardless of which websites you visit.
4. Do I need to restart Safari after making these changes?
Yes, you need to completely close Safari and reopen it for the changes to take effect. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access the app switcher, then swipe Safari up to close it.
5. Does this work for other browsers like Chrome?
This specific fix is for Safari. For other browsers, you would need to follow similar steps but select the specific browser app in the "Per App" settings instead of Safari.
6. Will this affect my battery life?
Having background music playing while browsing may slightly increase battery consumption, but disabling auto-play videos might actually save battery since fewer videos will automatically play.
Created on March 25, 2025
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