No Radio Auto-Play: The Radio Stays Off Unless You Choose It

No radio auto-play keeps Mazda Connect from turning the radio on by itself. When the phone or USB stick you were listening to isn’t connected yet at startup, or drops out while you drive, the car stays quiet and goes back to that source when it returns. FM and AM stay in the source list, so you can still pick them yourself.

Included with ScreenTune

No radio auto-play comes free with every ScreenTune order.

Add it during car setup after checkout. It's off until you add it. Needs ScreenTune 1.2.0 or later.

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Why the radio comes on by itself

Mazda Connect remembers the last audio source. At startup, or when a source disconnects, it waits for that source to come back. If it doesn’t, Mazda Connect switches to the previous source or, failing that, the last radio station. FM is always available, so that is usually where it lands. The wait is about 60 seconds for CarPlay, Android Auto, and USB, about 30 seconds for AUX and CD, and 60 to 90 seconds for Bluetooth audio.

That is the minute-long delay before the radio starts when your phone doesn’t connect. Once FM is playing, it is also the source the car remembers at the next shutdown, so the following start begins on FM straight away.

What changes on the car

• No fallback timer. Mazda Connect keeps waiting for the missing source instead of switching after the timeout, with no Reconnecting screen. When the phone or USB stick reconnects, its audio starts as usual.
• CarPlay unplugs quietly. Unplugging CarPlay while driving leaves the audio off. The stock software switches straight to the previous source or the radio.
• Wireless CarPlay cars start quietly. On a car with factory wireless CarPlay, Mazda saves FM as the last source at shutdown when an iPhone was playing Bluetooth audio, so Bluetooth audio doesn’t hold the phone and keep wireless CarPlay from connecting. With this option the car saves CarPlay’s own “no audio” state instead, so the next start is quiet and wireless CarPlay still connects.

These are states the stock software already uses. Factory wireless CarPlay, for example, already waits without a timer.

What still plays the radio

• Choosing it. Selecting FM or AM, or pressing the entertainment control when no other source is available, works as before.
• Disconnecting a source from the menu. Removing a source through Mazda Connect, such as ejecting a CD, can still fall back to the radio.
• Android Auto ending its audio. If Android Auto stops its own audio session, Mazda Connect may still switch to the radio.
• A car that already starts on FM. If FM is the source the car remembers today, the first start after installing still plays FM. After you use another source and switch the car off, FM is no longer remembered.

Turn it on or off

New orders. During car setup after checkout, select No radio auto-play on the Add-ons step. Its card changes from Add for free to Added. It is off unless you add it.

Existing customers. In My ScreenTune, open Change features, add or remove No radio auto-play on Add-ons, and request the updated package (add or change ScreenTune features). In the car, choose UPDATE, or REPAIR if the prompt shows the version you already have.

Check that it works

1. Open Applications → Miatafy and select WHAT’S INSTALLED. The list should include Radio doesn’t turn itself on.
2. Listen to CarPlay or Android Auto, then switch the car fully off and wait for the screen to go dark.
3. Leave the phone disconnected and start the car. After two minutes the radio should still be off.
4. Connect the phone. Its audio should start again.

If the radio still comes on after a minute, insert the ScreenTune USB and choose REPAIR (repair ScreenTune).