Philips Hue, initially introduced in 2012, is a line of color changing LED lightbulbs and accessories created by Dutch company Philips. The line utilizes the Hue Bridge in order to facilitate control over LED lights and accessories. Control can be wielded directly from the Philips Hue app, or via systems like Apple’s HomeKit. HomeKit compatibility allows users to control Philips Hue lighting directly from Control Center, from the Home app, and from Siri.
Philips seems to be aiming to move on from just selling bulbs to go into other people’s lights to selling you entire light fixtures.
Two of the new Hue products were already leaked – a bathroom mirror and an outdoor lightstrip – but the company kept the rest under wraps until today …
Philips is further expanding its Hue smart lighting lineup. Today, the listing for the company’s Adore bathroom lighted mirror has shown up on the company’s website.
Philips announced a new outdoor lineup of Hue lights this past spring that consists of spot lights, bollard lights, and luminaries. Now the company is expanding its offerings, unveiling an outdoor version of its popular LED LightStrip.
First announced back at CES in January, Philips is releasing its new Philips Hue Sync app for both Mac and PC today. The new macOS utility lets you sync Hue smart light colors and effects to games, video, and music playing from Mac.
We learned earlier this month that Philips was working on a major update to its Hue app for its smart home lighting system, and the new version has just hit the iOS App Store.
The 3.0 app update is the biggest update to the Hue app since the original release of the 2.0 version. We’ve tried to make it more intuitive and enjoyable for everyday use. Some changes you might hardly notice, while others are hard to miss …
Philips is releasing a major new version of its iOS app this month that gives the smart lighting controller an updated look while restoring some missing features. The new version includes 30 new lighting scenes and brings back a feature that lets you turn photos into lighting scenes.
Philips teased back in January that it would be launching outdoor Hue lights later in the year, and it has now provided details of the products – including pricing and availability.
The company says that it will be offering three types of outdoor lights in the USA and Europe in July …
Philips is retroactively adding HomeKit support and features to several existing Hue accessories through the latest software update. Hue tap, dimmer switch, and motion sensor all gain compatibility with Apple’s Home app and automation features when used with the second-gen bridge.
The ability to use Siri and a single app to control your smart home technology makes HomeKit compatibility almost a must these days, but so far that has not come cheap – as both Zac and myself discovered. Smart bulbs from the market leader Philips mostly cost $30 per bulb for white and $50 for color, a price that soon adds up if you’re looking to fit out your entire home (though there is a $15 option).
But all that is set to change in the summer as Ikea has announced that its smart lighting system will be HomeKit-compatible as of the summer. Ikea’s smart bulbs start at just $11.99 …
As I continue to go hands-on with more products in the Philips Hue family, I have to say that the Philips Hue Tap is one that caught me by surprise. This is a device that allows you to control your Philips Hue lights using physical buttons, sort of like a traditional light switch, which to me sounded archaic and like the opposite of progress.
Yet, after trying the Hue Tap, I found it to be a convenient compliment to controlling lights from my iPhone or via Siri. The Philips Hue Tap is wireless, pairs easily, can be mounted anywhere, and is powered, not by batteries, but by your touch. Have a look at our brief hands-on video for more details.
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After going hands-on with the Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus, I was eager to try out other products in the Hue lineup. The Philips Hue Go seemed particularly intriguing thanks to its battery-powered portability.
The Go is an ~$80 portable light, the size of a small cantaloupe that’s been sliced in half. The unit can be stay on for 3 hours thanks to its built-in rechargeable battery, but can also be powered via a wall outlet.
Although the Hue Go comes bundled with 7 lighting presets, it really shines when combined with the Philips Hue Bridge. The Bridge isn’t a requirement to use the Go, but it does allow you to tap into the full potential of the product.
Should you consider adding the Philips Hue Go to your lighting repertoire? Have a look at our video walkthrough for my hands-on impressions and overview.
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Philips has announced that it is extending its range of Hue bulbs, adding an E14/B39 ‘candle’ bulb to fit smaller lamps. This will be added to the E26/A19, bayonet and GU10 fittings.
The new bulbs will be available in both white and color versions, as with the existing range, and will hit Europe in April, reaching the U.S. ‘later this year.’
Philips says that the candle bulbs will be particularly useful for bedside table lamps …
Once you start down the smart home path, you quickly realize that it’s a never-ending journey. Not only are there always more devices out there waiting to tempt you, but there are all the apps.
From Apple’s Home app through manufacturer companion apps to third-party apps, there are plenty to choose from – especially when it comes to Philips Hue lighting.
We look at three manufacturer apps you might want to continue to use even after you have your devices configured, together with six third-party apps that can help your smart home become even smarter …
I’ve been a big fan of Philips Hue lights since the very first Hue Starter Kit was released back in 2012. I’ve been using that same initial set of bulbs ever since then, and have been largely happy with the experience.
Thanks to the success of that initial release, Philips has added many more Hue products to the lineup. It also produced a new second-generation HomeKit-enabled Bridge, which allows you to control your Hue lights directly from Siri or via the Home app features found in iOS 10.
But there’s one particular Hue product that I see utilized more than any other, and that’s Philips’ Hue Lightstrip. You’ve likely seen the $90 Lightstrip utilized in photos or on YouTube videos, and that’s because they’re a wonderful way to make practically any environment more interesting with minimal effort.
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I’ve been using Philips Hue white and color ambience lights around my house since they gained HomeKit support last fall, but the mobile apps that control the lights have never felt top notch. Earlier this week, Philips moved its Hue mobile apps to legacy status with a name change and icon tweak, and today Hue users are finally getting their hands on the latest and greatest Philips Hue apps for iOS and Android. The design improvements alone are dramatic and worth the wait, but Philips packs in some new features and tricks as well.
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Update: Philips has done a U-turn, stating that it “under-estimated the impact this would have on a small number of customers who use lights from other brands” and has decided to reverse the upgrade. It said that it is “working on the reversal of the upgrade and will shortly confirm when this will be available.” The Friends of Hue program will continue, with Bosch, Logitech and Samsung SmartThings having joined so far, adding to existing partnerships with Apple and Nest.
An update to the Philips Hue system has blocked access to some third-party bulbs, including GE Link LED (above) and Cree Connected LED, citing ‘interoperability issues.’ While existing bulbs already linked to the Philips Hue Bridge will continue to work for now, the system is not currently allowing additional bulbs to be added, and Philips says there are no guarantees that this won’t change in future updates.
We are seeing an increasing number of interoperability issues with these untested third party products, which are causing increasing confusion for our installed base. They are also hampering our ongoing development and damaging the consistency of experience for the Philips Hue ecosystem. Next to confusing differences in setup and resetting, we’ve encountered a number of such issues over the years including 3rd party lights which do not turn off when we fade them to off, lights which do not react correctly to scene recalls and lights which stop proper functioning of our Wireless Dimmer Kits.
This will disappoint many, as one of the promises of the Hue system was support for third-party bulbs. All is not yet lost, however …
In my last gift guide, I did a themed roundup of the best HomeKit gear to deck out your home this holiday season. This post is about my personal favorite items and accessories across all of iOS and Mac ecosystems, most of these products I use every day for work and for fun. My picks include the Gorillapod tripod, the Philips Hue HomeKit lights, Rock Jaw earbuds, MH30 earphones, MarsBox Bluetooth speaker, the latest Apple TV, an MFI game controller, some Elgato smart home gear and an iPad Pro. I love technology but I consciously refrain from buying too much stuff and have a relatively slim personal gadget portfolio, so these products are carefully chosen.
Read on after the break to see why I selected these ten items specifically …