Recently the new Apple HomePod Mini speakers wreaked havoc in my household by going off seemingly automatically in the middle of the night. First it was at 1:30 a.m. with Randy Newman and then, even worse, at 3:30 a.m. with Katy Perry.
That of course, would be bad at any hour.
So how was this possible?
I unplugged the speakers from the bedroom and brought them out to the garage, to try and re-create the problem.
Here’s what happened. If you touch the top of the speaker, even ever so briefly, the speakers start playing music.
I don’t subscribe to Apple Music, so the speakers are set to Pandora and Thumbprint radio, which is a collection of music from all the stations I’ve created over the years. Hence, Newman and Perry.
So what happened on those two nights? Someone you know and love clearly touched the top of the speaker as she was sleeping. So I wouldn’t recommend a HomePod to the sleepwalker in your life.
And note that Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Nest Audio speakers don’t start playing immediately if you touch them. They respond to voice commands only!