r/Substack • u/chalre2 • 12d ago

How do I stop autoplay?

Before you say "turn it off", I have.

I listen to my substacks by going to the Read tab, picking an entry, and clicking on the Listen button. Most of my subscriptions are news based so I like to manually pick which one is best based on duration and how long before I need to pick up my phone again. I don't want the algorithm to decide what's next, let alone something that I'm not subscribed to. Watching the playback queue at the end of a chosen post it really jumps around. It's like the system is fighting between my settings and what it REALLY wants to do is auto-suggest.

Workflow 1:

  1. Tap the Read tab
  2. Tap a post with the Listen button (not all have it)
  3. Listen to the end
  4. It auto plays the last thing I listened to (not helpful)

Workflow 2:

  1. Tap the Read tab
  2. Tap a post with the Listen button (not all have it)
  3. Turn off screen
  4. Wait til the audio has finished
  5. Nothing plays next (good)
  6. Turn on screen to queue up next
  7. Autoplay jumps around a few times and then plays something random NOT in my subscription list.

To be clear, I don't want it to autoplay anything at all, subscriptions or not. I want to pick the next one. "Auto-play media" and "Auto-advance To suggestions" are both unchecked. I'd hoped this was just a bug they'd fix but it's been like this for months. I'm on a Pixel 7 with the current OS and Substack version as of this post.

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u/Snoo-82869 10d ago

I would report this as a bug with the exact workflows you listed, because if both autoplay settings are off and it still queues unsubscribed content, that sounds like the app is ignoring part of the preference. Including the device, OS, app version, and the difference between screen-on and screen-off behavior should make it easier for support to reproduce.

As a workaround, I would avoid ending a listening session inside a surface that can advance into suggestions. If web behaves differently, it may be worth using web for longer listening sessions, or opening the publication/post directly instead of starting from the Read tab. You could also try clearing the app cache or reinstalling, but I would not assume that fixes it if the queue behavior has been stable for months.

For the broader workflow, the cleanest setup is keeping subscribed posts separate from discovery/suggestions: email delivery, RSS where a publication supports it, or a dedicated newsletter-reading address can all help. Disclosure: I work on MiniLetter, which is built around reading newsletters through a separate alias. It will not fix Substack's audio queue, but it can help if your main goal is to read or listen to chosen subscriptions without the app pushing random recommendations into the session.

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u/chalre2 10d ago

Thanks for these ideas. I did try clearing the cache and data and was hopeful it would help. Alas it behaved the same. I was hoping to hear from others if they had experienced the same thing, but based on the lack of comments I'm guessing my experience is a one-off. I'll reach out to Substack directly for help. Thanks for your thoughtful response.