How to make Nano NOT appear on Mac desktop as connected drive when I plug in to recharge it? Just want charging, not syncing, and don't want to unmount drive each time.

Question

I have a 6th generation iPod Nano.
I almost exclusively use it as an FM radio and as a pedometer -- so far I have not loaded any songs onto it for listening, nor do I intend to in the future.
Here's my problem:
When my Nano runs out of juice, I have to use the charging cord to plug it into to my iMac's USB port to recharge the Nano. However, whenever I do so, two different (unwanted) actions happened:
First, the act of plugging in the iPod auto-launched iTunes, for syncing. I solved this problem by finding the preference check box for launching iTunes when connecting an iPid, and UNchecking the box. That worked, problem solved.
However, the second automatic action is that the iPod appears as a connected drive on the iMac desktop, as any external device with a drive would appear when connected to any Mac. But I have no need for this to be happening -- I don't intend to upload anything to the iPod, nor to sync it, or whatever -- the only reason I ever connect the iPod to the iMac is to RECHARGE the iPod, not to tinker with the contents of what's on it.
The problem is, every time I then want to disconnect the charging cord, I have to manually "unmount" the iPod drive by dragging its desktop icon to the Trash, when then allows the "it is now safe to disconnect your external drive" state to obtain, allowing me to then unplug it without getting a warning message telling me I shouldn't have just disconnected a connected drive without first unmounting it.
This wouldn't be such a bother, except that the 6th generation iPod Nano has a new "feature" which makes it impossible to see how far along the charging is progressing while it is still in the act of charging. Thus, the only way to know if it is has become  fully charged is to unplug it, and look at the battery monitor. While is it still connected and charging, all that displays on the iPod is the "charging now" battery icon, which does not reveal just how the charging is progressing, or if it is fully charged yet. (My iPhone, by way of contrast, displays during charging a battery icon which reveals how far charged it is by that point.)
As a result of this Nano "feature," I often find myself having to connect and disconnect the Nano two or three or more times each time I'm charging it, so I can simply check how far along the charging has gotten, since I want to disconnect it as soon as it has finished charging and get back to using it.
But so far, I have not been able to find any kind of setting or preference which allow me to identify this device as one which I DON'T want to "mount" each time it is plugged in.
All I want to do is just plug in the iPod, and be able to unplug it, without having to to ANY shenanigans on the computer itself. Just plug in = recharging, unplug = not charging any more. Simple.
Question: is there any way to achieve this? Or is it simply not possible, and must I manually unmount the iPod's drive (more than once, usually) each time I plug it in for recharging?

Answer 1

I should also point out that when I connect my iPhone, it DOESN'T appear as a connected drive on the desktop. Not sure how this can be so, since the iPhone also has a drive and also functions as an iPod if I want it to. I must have changed some setting to achieve this non-appearance, but don't remember what I must have done.
What's the secret?