diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/service/AudioService.java b/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/service/AudioService.java
index b8db0e4301..103bd268d4 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/service/AudioService.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/service/AudioService.java
@@ -158,12 +158,6 @@ public static class AudioUpdateIntent {
   // so user can pass in a serializable LegacyAudioRequest to the intent
   public static final String EXTRA_PLAY_INFO = "com.quran.labs.androidquran.PLAY_INFO";
 
-  // ignore the passed in play info if we're already playing
-  public static final String EXTRA_IGNORE_IF_PLAYING = "com.quran.labs.androidquran.IGNORE_IF_PLAYING";
-
-  // used to override what is playing now (stop then play)
-  public static final String EXTRA_STOP_IF_PLAYING = "com.quran.labs.androidquran.STOP_IF_PLAYING";
-
   // indicates the state our service:
   private enum State {
     Stopped,    // media player is stopped and not prepared to play
@@ -415,20 +409,15 @@ private void handleIntent(Intent intent) {
     } else if (ACTION_PLAYBACK.equals(action)) {
       AudioRequest playInfo = intent.getParcelableExtra(EXTRA_PLAY_INFO);
       if (playInfo != null) {
-        if (State.Stopped == state ||
-            !intent.getBooleanExtra(EXTRA_IGNORE_IF_PLAYING, false)) {
-          audioRequest = playInfo;
-
-          final SuraAyah start = audioRequest.getStart();
-          final boolean basmallah = !playInfo.isGapless() &&
-              SuraAyahExtensionKt.requiresBasmallah(start);
-          audioQueue = new AudioQueue(quranInfo, audioRequest,
-              new AudioPlaybackInfo(start, 1, 1, basmallah));
-          Crashlytics.log("audio request has changed...");
-        }
-      }
+        audioRequest = playInfo;
+
+        final SuraAyah start = audioRequest.getStart();
+        final boolean basmallah = !playInfo.isGapless() &&
+            SuraAyahExtensionKt.requiresBasmallah(start);
+        audioQueue = new AudioQueue(quranInfo, audioRequest,
+            new AudioPlaybackInfo(start, 1, 1, basmallah));
+        Crashlytics.log("audio request has changed...");
 
-      if (intent.getBooleanExtra(EXTRA_STOP_IF_PLAYING, false)) {
         if (player != null) {
           player.stop();
         }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/PagerActivity.java b/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/PagerActivity.java
index f1eac20e22..f0f6a38326 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/PagerActivity.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/PagerActivity.java
@@ -155,7 +155,6 @@ public class PagerActivity extends QuranActionBarActivity implements
   private int highlightedSura = -1;
   private int highlightedAyah = -1;
   private int ayahToolBarTotalHeight;
-  private boolean shouldOverridePlaying = false;
   private DefaultDownloadReceiver downloadReceiver;
   private boolean needsPermissionToDownloadOver3g = true;
   private AlertDialog promptDialog = null;
@@ -1442,7 +1441,7 @@ public void onPlayPressed() {
 
   private void playFromAyah(int page, int startSura, int startAyah) {
     final SuraAyah start = new SuraAyah(startSura, startAyah);
-    playFromAyah(start, null, page, 0, 0, false, false);
+    playFromAyah(start, null, page, 0, 0, false);
   }
 
   public void playFromAyah(SuraAyah start,
@@ -1450,12 +1449,7 @@ public void playFromAyah(SuraAyah start,
                            int page,
                            int verseRepeat,
                            int rangeRepeat,
-                           boolean enforceRange,
-                           boolean force) {
-    if (force) {
-      shouldOverridePlaying = true;
-    }
-
+                           boolean enforceRange) {
     final SuraAyah ending = end != null ? end :
         audioUtils.getLastAyahToPlay(start, page,
             quranSettings.getPreferredDownloadAmount(), isDualPages);
@@ -1499,16 +1493,6 @@ public void handlePlayback(AudioRequest request) {
       audioStatusBar.setRepeatCount(request.getRepeatInfo());
     }
 
-    if (shouldOverridePlaying) {
-      // force the current audio to stop and start playing new request
-      i.putExtra(AudioService.EXTRA_STOP_IF_PLAYING, true);
-      shouldOverridePlaying = false;
-    }
-    // just a playback request, so tell audio service to just continue
-    // playing (and don't store new audio data) if it was already playing
-    else {
-      i.putExtra(AudioService.EXTRA_IGNORE_IF_PLAYING, true);
-    }
     Crashlytics.log("starting foreground service for audio playback");
     ContextCompat.startForegroundService(this, i);
   }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/fragment/AyahPlaybackFragment.java b/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/fragment/AyahPlaybackFragment.java
index 625e6492f3..1f1c5ccdef 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/fragment/AyahPlaybackFragment.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/fragment/AyahPlaybackFragment.java
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ private void apply() {
           }
         }
         pagerActivity.playFromAyah(currentStart, currentEnding, page, verseRepeat,
-            rangeRepeat, enforceRange, true);
+            rangeRepeat, enforceRange);
       } else if (shouldEnforce != enforceRange ||
           rangeRepeatCount != rangeRepeat ||
           verseRepeatCount != verseRepeat) {
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ private void apply() {
             rangeRepeat, verseRepeat, enforceRange)) {
           // audio stopped in the process, let's start it
           pagerActivity.playFromAyah(currentStart, currentEnding, page, verseRepeat,
-              rangeRepeat, enforceRange, true);
+              rangeRepeat, enforceRange);
         }
       }
       pagerActivity.endAyahMode();