HomePod Mini Automatically Play Music When Surrounded by Items?

I have a HomePod Mini set up on the dining table in my kitchen, and months ago, it started having this weird problem. One day, my roommate told me that during the day, the HomePod would often start playing music automatically. Even after pausing it, the music would immediately resume playback on its own. At that point, this issue had already been happening for days.

We’ve set strict privacy settings so only members of our household can access it, so it’s definitely not a prank. But since the problem first appeared, it has happened every single day.

At first, we had no choice but to unplug it to stop the music. I’ve tried restarting and even resetting the HomePod, but the issue still persists. The strangest part? This only happens when the HomePod is placed on the dining table. For example, when I moved it to my study, the problem didn’t happen for several days. There was no random playback, nothing unusual. But every time I put it back on the dining table, the issue would return.

Here’s where it gets really weird: the HomePod Mini worked perfectly fine when I first set it up. The random music playback only started after we began piling up books, fruit, snacks, and other items around it on the dining table. So I moved the HomePod to a new spot on the table, in a corner with no surrounding clutter, and for months the issue disappeared.

But then, one day around lunchtime, I suddenly heard it blasting music at full volume. When I went to check, I found that my roommate had placed groceries all around the HomePod Mini the day before, leaving only a few centimeters of space between the items and the device. Even though nothing was physically touching the touch-sensitive top, it still started playing on its own. I removed the items near it, and the problem immediately stopped again—and hasn’t come back since.

At this point, I’m convinced the issue is caused by items being too close to the HomePod Mini, but I have no idea why. Could it be related to proximity sensors, interference, or the way the HomePod detects touch and gestures? Does anyone have a technical explanation for this? I’d love to hear your thoughts!