How do I keep "now playing" from appearing on a lock screen of an Apple Watch?

I have an Apple Watch 9. Any ideas on how to keep "now playing" from appearing on a lock screen of an apple watch? Its automatic appearance has become increasingly frustrating. I have tried the procedure below. It did not work. Any other ideas?


  1. Press the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch.
  2. Tap Settings on the list of apps or in the grid view.
  3. Tap General.
  4. Tap Auto Launch
  5. Tap the switch next to Auto-Launch Audio Apps so it's in the grey "off" position.


[Re-Titled by Moderator]


Apple Watch Series 9, watchOS 10

Posted on Dec 18, 2023 1:18 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 23, 2024 10:41 AM

The below helped me disable the ‘Now Playing’ feature on WatchOS 10


settings > general > return to clock > now playing > custom > always

40 replies

Feb 20, 2024 11:51 AM in response to Lucyloo8340

I went into my Apple Watch apps on my watch and located the now playing app (I googled what the app icon looked like as I wasn’t familiar with it) and held the app icon until it had an x and then deleted the app! Problem solved. I also did the same with the news app (although I had to do that through the apps on my iPhone to be able to delete). I didn’t like how news kept popping up on my watch! Hope this helps!

Mar 15, 2024 9:39 AM in response to jgrill

This is a prime example of how complicated Apple's settings have become, esp on Watch and iPhone.

Many things require settings in multiple places to be addressed and frankly, it's gotten out of control (IMO).

Thinking that a solution to this for some was to just delete the app should show Apple what a mess some of this is.

How do I keep "now playing" from appearing on a lock screen of an Apple Watch?

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