How to set your Music app to stop playing after a set amount of time

By chrisoldroyd
last updated

Like to go to sleep listening to your iPhone's Music app and curious how to get it to "sleep" after a set period of time? One of the most annoying things is waking up a few hours later and it is still playing. Especially true if you are listening to an Audio Book and have to scrub back through hours of audio to find where you stopped listening.

Well there is a better way! You can set your iPod to stop playing after a set amount of time. It is really easy to do and we will show you how.

  • Open up your Clock app on the home screen

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  • Select the Timer

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  • Set the amount of time you want the Music app to play for
  • Click on the When Timer Ends button
  • Scroll down to Sleep iPod

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  • Click on Set
  • Start the Timer

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  • Fire up the Music app, lie back, relax and enjoy
  • After the timer runs down, the Music app will stop

That is all there is to it, a simple but brilliant tip that I have just discovered myself!

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chrisoldroyd
chrisoldroyd

UK editor at iMore, mobile technology lover and air conditioning design engineer.

22 Comments
  • Thanks. I will also us this to time the end of my workouts.
  • wow
  • Wicked awesome. The funny thing is, I've seen that option before at the bottom of that list in the timer, but had completely forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder!
  • I never knew this existed. Do we know if it's iOS 5 only or on all OS's and devices?
  • It was on the original iPhone with iOS 1.
  • I guess the alarm went off after 4 years. That feature was there with the original iPhone. Now, if you told us how to put pandora to sleep after 30 minutes, that would be something.
  • Just tried it with Pandora running and it worked.
  • Check this out iphone users : http://j.mp/sfdG9K
  • Awesome tip.........i was waiting for this...........
  • I thought I was one among Power Users, but don't think anymore :(
    Thanks for the tip.
  • iPad does not have a clock app on the home screen.
    Please start telling us, at the beginning, when these tips are iPhone-only.
  • If you actually read the article, it does. At the start even!
  • Did not work for me!
  • What does your comment have to do with this article? Perhaps if you posted your question in the forums, you'd get a relevant answer :)
  • What does your comment have to do with this article? Perhaps if you posted your question in the forums, you'd get a relevant answer :)
  • Siri can't set timers... yet. Only alarms.
  • People who obviously don't know jack shouldn't post comments.
    http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/847/siritimer.png/
  • Ask siri to set a timer and she'll do it.. but only in minute increments. no seconds.
  • I use "Sleep Timer"
  • my sansa clip+ with rockbox is better
  • this is awesome!
    I wondered how to do that...cuz it was possible to do with ipods.
  • Awesome tip and it works with iOS 7...I've am one of those you mentioned who likes to go to sleep listening to an Audio Book and am so annoyed when I wake us hours later and it is still playing. Like that I can make my iPhone go to "sleep" after a set period of time. Thanks for the tip.