Comments on: iPod headphone disconnect automatic pause

By: Cale

Cale — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 06:51:47 +0000

I would hardly say that Apple handles the headphone unplug pause system gracefully. Its kind of a no-brainier if you ask me (I’m a Computer Engineer). I just bought a new iPod because my old one(Nano 5th gen) was pausing and this one(iPod Touch 4th gen) is pausing even more then the old one! They know about this problem and have not released any sort of work around. Apple should support their software bugs and release a patch. Quite frankly, I’ve been very unimpressed with the performance of their software. I’ve have not used any products in recent years that were anywhere near as buggy and hard to use as iTunes and iOS devices. They hang all of the time and the features a sub-par. Maybe its because I’m a power user and actually notice the lack of features. All I know is my iPod Touch is the best hand held computer I’ve ever used and hands down the worst MP3 player.

By: Tim H

Tim H — Fri, 27 May 2011 13:41:24 +0000

I found this post after searching for the problem mentioned. The tip to put a bit of tape around the base of the headphones to prevent it shorting has worked great, thank you!

By: ToRNOuTLaW

ToRNOuTLaW — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:40:54 +0000

Wow, great tipps, thank you Ashley!
In my case it appears to’ve been a Problem with my headphones(Ultimate Ears – high end as you said) plug. Isolated the base, problem does no longer occeur!

By: Ashley Towers

Ashley Towers — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:08:18 +0000

Hi Saac & William – thanks for the comments. I had never heard of this problem until you mentioned it and from looking around it seems to be fairly common! You are absolutely right that there should be a way to disable it!

I’m sure you’ve both researched the problem but just in case any one else stumbles across this post here’s a few tips that have worked for others (as always – try the following at your own risk!).

The problem can be caused by the headphones losing contact with the jack so check:
1. Your headphones plug isn’t loosely fitting
2. If you have dirty contacts in the iPod jack socket. Try using some contact cleaner or blowing it with some compressed air

Other causes for the problem:
3. Some third party headphones have a metal rim around the base of the plug (seems to be especially common on high end models) this can sometimes short against the metal on the jack – confusing the iPod into thinking it needs to pause.
Here you need to insulate it – most people have stuck a piece of tape between the two to prevent metal-to-metal contact. Alternatively, others have just bought an iPod remote to act as middle-man.

Hope this helps!

By: William

William — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:12:43 +0000

Dito, my 80GB iPod classic pauses all the time virtually destroying it and now it’s completely useless due to over engineering. If the feature like this exists then a method for disabling it must also exist. In products with such a wide customer base, attempting to assume how people will use the item will get you every time.

By: Sacc

Sacc — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:58:05 +0000

This feature is going to prevent me from buying another ipod, i own a classic model and it pauses every 30 seconds while my headphones are still connected.

This feature is horrible for people like me, who take their big headphones everywhere and they are perfectly good, except for ipods, which think you are disconnecting them constantly because of the wear and tear the headphones have.