Homepod randomly starts playing.

I found a way to handle that issue which I think (at least in my case) it’s not a hardware but software issue (it started to appear after the most recent two updates within 26. and it appears only with my HomePods (not with my 3 stereo sets of HomePod mini).

SOLUTION: Home App -> find your HomePods -> go to the Settings of your HomePods or the Settings of your stereo pair -> go to Accessibility -> turn on Touch Accommodations -> within Touch Accommodations turn on Hold Duration and increase it to 3 or 3+ seconds

The Ghost Touch Effect will disappear.

Keep in mind, that you will have to hold longer, whenever you want to do something with your HomePods by touching them in the future.

It seems it’s the 2nd gen that has the touch issues.

To solve them coming on by themselves I had to ungroup my stereo paired 2nd gen HomePods. They were set as default audio to my Apple TV. So now I set one to be the default and AirPlay to the other, you’ll need to test which one prefers being on default audio. it’s solved so many other issues that were going on. This suggests a possible issue with stereo pairing or Home Theater audio synchronization in audioOS 26.5. I don’t like having to use them this way but I’m hopeful Apple might address this issue in a future software update. Apple does not read or monitor these forums so you need to let them know via feedback here ——->Feedback - HomePod - Apple.

I’ve been reading through this thread and a bunch of you are describing exactly what’s happening to me: HomePod starts playing on its own, volume jumps to max without anyone touching it, Siri kicks in randomly… Several times it’s said “Sure, here’s some special music, picked just for you,” completely on its own, nobody said a word to it. In my case, unplugging and replugging it also brings up a red circle, and the only way to get it back on HomeKit is a full restore through a computer. I’ve got two HomePod minis doing this, bought 6 months apart, and they’re both acting up the exact same way.

Took them to Apple and they themselves called it “Ghost Touch.” They restored both in store, and it started failing again right away. Since they’re out of warranty, they told me it made more sense to just buy a new one, since the repair would cost more than a new device.

Turns out it’s not just the minis either — people in other threads are reporting the same thing on the 2nd gen HomePod, and it looks like it’s the top touch panel causing it on both models.

There’s already a couple of formal consumer complaints filed over this in Spain, one of them says Apple themselves acknowledged the issue happens on HomePod minis “extensively” — so it’s not just scattered forum posts anymore.

I’m putting together a registry to track how many of us there are, which countries, which model, and what Apple told each person. Trying to get real numbers instead of scattered complaints, so we can actually take this to Apple seriously. If this sounds familiar, here’s the form, takes 2 minutes, no sensitive personal info: https://forms.gle/

Just came off the phone with Apple again this morning, following a couple of escalations, and their view remains that 2 years is as long as HomePods could reasonably be expected to last. If the issue develops inside 2 years (which it doesn't, usually) they'll replace for free, regardless of warranty status (in the UK, at least). If they're more than 2 years old, then tough.

That's certainly an unusual interpretation of the UK's Consumer Rights Act, but Apple has USD 162 billion cash on hand so a) they can't afford to just give stuff away just to comply with irritating local laws, and b) they can afford very expensive lawyers.

I've filed a s75 claim with the credit card company to get some of my money back. I'll use that either to pay fixpod or someone to fix the issue, or I'll find a more reliable non-Apple alternative (I guess Sonos 300 or KEFs of some kind?).

Shame, because when they weren't waking us up with maximum volume Skrillex at 3am, I really liked the HomePods.

Same issue with 1 of 2 of mine. Ghost touches constantly. I rarely used the touch bit (except to reset it), or Siri. Just control it from my phone / computer.

Model MY5G2LL/A

Factory reset = no dice.

Home reset + factory reset = no dice.

Accessibility trick, cranking touch requirements to the max 3.9 seconds = better, a lot less spooky ghosts.

Magnet trick = waving a magnet over it doesn't work.

Magnet trick = leaving a magnet on it doesn't work. high powered or... low powered.

Suction trick = seems interesting - see this link. I need a suction cup to try it.

Tearing it apart is next. Seems like a lot of work for a smart speaker. If only I had spent $10 / year since 2020, I'd have spent 150% the price of the speaker to keep it under warranty.

Any other smart speakers work like this? Nope. Apple should issue a fix as this is obviously a design flaw.

Before taking it apart, ungroup them, if one is faulty it just drags down the other one. Not ideal but worked on mine. See my other reply in this thread.

Just started to have the same issue on my HomePod Mini. For me it is not every 20 minutes, it starts playing very irregularly.

I've looked into it in the last few days and apparently the touch panel on the HomePod Mini and the 2nd Gen HomePod is faulty and produces ghost touching. Apple is aware, but does not care about it... shame, I would expect more for the price tag.

I fixed it. I opened my 2yo HomePod2 and disconnected the touch panel. Reassembled it (tying the fabric again was tough work, but did it anyhow), and now its working well. No ghost touches, no random Siri activations, no sudden volume max-outs. Absolute fix.

If Apple is reading this post, please note:

"You guys may not acknowledge the issue with your hardware, you may deny paid/good-will repairs (in India you guys tell it cannot be repaired and only can be replaced) without thinking that a customer is left with a useless piece of ultra-expensive speaker (it cost ₹32,000 in India) only after 2yrs of usage!

That's not the case with any other expensive products from brands like Sony, Bose or Marshall. They simply last more than a decade or even multiple decades without any issue.

You guys can at least offer a software-based solution through updates by giving an option to allow touch panels to be disabled by the software. I am sure that's not a rocket-science and this simple fix may bring relief to your HomePod customers across the world who are either facing or are going to face this ghost-touch issue."

All HomePod customers across the world would be grateful to Apple for introducing this software fix.

Before taking apart your HomePod, try placing a small magnet (for example, from a magnetic board) on top of it. This solved the problem for me.

I found the simple solution to that.

https://youtube.com/shorts/YFAlwYjB7Lo?si=kdxiSRiOnrafN2QU

the owner of the video tried everything suggested like activating the accessibility and touch hold for 4s. It didn’t work.

By doing this, WITH the touch hold at 4s, it seems to stop the ghost playing / Siri responding to ghost request, etc…

note: Turning off the touch hold 4s WILL NOT make it work. BOTH need to work hand in hand.

I’d add: be persistent (polite, but persistent) in contacting Apple support. You may get a better resolution on the second or third time of asking.

Incidentally in my limited experience Apple’s feedback process is a waste of time as Apple doesn’t seem to ever look at it (as noted by someone else here, the most recent software you can select when providing HomePod feedback is 16).

Try using Touch Accommodations in Accessibility to set a hold time for the touch pad.