> It’s happened to everyone:

No, it has not happened to everyone.

> you plug your smartphone into your car, and then cringe when that song — the same song every time — begins to play.

No, this has never happened to me. Nothing starts auto-playing, and what does play when I hit the "play" button is for the player to pickup exactly where it stopped the last time I unplugged it from the car.

Phone: Android

Music Player: Vanilla Music (https://f-droid.org/en/packages/ch.blinkenlights.android.van...)