One of the best Philips Hue apps to shake up your sensible lighting
What the common Philips Hue app provides in operate, letting you arrange scenes and management the colour and dimming stage of your sensible gentle bulbs, it lacks in enjoyable.
The place are the dynamic lights that shift by way of colours robotically, or lighting that adjustments coloration to match daylight?
Fortuitously, all of those options and extra can be found because of Hueâs surprisingly open API that permits just about anybody to make their very own app. Change to one among our greatest Philips Hue apps and youâll discover that your gentle can achieve this rather more than you thought.
As you possibly can think about, the selection is overwhelming, with lots of of apps of pure dross on the market. Weâve trawled by way of a tonne of apps to search out out which of them are greatest, on the lookout for those who prolong the expertise and add one thing new.
There are completely different apps for iOS and Android, however weâve famous down which of our decisions can be found for every, so you possibly can pick the most effective for you.
All Hue apps should be linked to the Philips Hue Bridge by tapping the join button when prompted on-screen. It does imply that if youâre working Hue lights in Bluetooth mode, you wonât be capable of use any of those apps.
OnSwitch
In some ways, OnSwitch is the app that Hue ought to have constructed. Appropriate with Hue and Lifx sensible bulbs, OnSwitch provides you all the fundamental management you’d count on, however distinguishes itself with its array of dynamic scenes.
Whether or not you need to recreate the impact of clouds passing over, a fireworks present, or the nice and cozy glow of a hearth, OnSwitch has every thing you want. A big collection of scenes are free, however some are in-app purchases.
OnSwitch frequently provides new scenes (a lot of that are paid-for), giving new choices to the season and even sporting occasions.
Download the Android app | Download the iOS app
iConnectHue
iConnectHue is among the most complete third-party Hue apps within the enterprise for the time being, and itâs solely out there for iOS. It has a variety of options, together with automated timings, music syncing, easy gentle grouping, intuitive coloration administration and lots extra in addition to.
You’ve got obtained an enormous selection of scenes and animations to choose from contained in the app, whilst you can customise the app to convey the settings and the options you want essentially the most to the forefront. It really works with nearly each Philips Hue accent too, together with the dimmer change and movement sensor units.
$4.99 | Download the iOS app
QuickHue
An Android-only app, QuickHue places an on/off change in your phoneâs pull-down Fast Settings, so you possibly can rapidly management your lights. Itâs actually so simple as that.
Thereâs a free model out there, which will get you a single management, however improve to the Professional model ($1.99 / £1.99) and you may add as much as six. This app could lose a few of the fancy options of different apps on this checklist, however itâs a helpful addition and might save time delving by way of different apps.
hueDynamic
A present favourite at Ambient Towers, hueDynamic has made a reputation for itself with its ‘ambiences’ and ‘experiences’, with new scenes added each day and extra options than you possibly can shake a light-weight strip at. Wish to get the social gathering banging? There’s some neat sound-to-light disco modes in right here. You may even create ‘ambiences’ from pictures.
The hueDynamic app additionally enables you to level your telephone’s digicam on the TV whilst you’re watching a film to sync your lights for added ‘atmosphere’. And here is a welcome bonus: You may management lights on a number of bridges with out having to modify between them.
Download the Android app | Download the iOS app
Apple Residence
One for Apple customers solely, clearly, the Residence app would possibly seem to be an odd addition right here, nevertheless it now affords one characteristic that Hue doesnât: Adaptive Lighting. When you choose the Adaptive Lighting choice within the Residence app, your chosen apps will modify coloration temperature robotically by way of the day: hotter within the morning, colder gentle in the midst of the day, and no blue gentle for the night.
The one minor difficulty is that if you happen to use a Hue wi-fi change to vary mode, you disable Adaptive Lighting. One workaround is to make use of a HomeKit-compatible button, such because the Flic 2 (hub required), and set this as much as activate Adaptive Lighting.
Yonomi
Yonomi enables you to automate your house with highly effective routines, and helps units from most main producers, together with Philips Hue. For instance, you possibly can have your Honeywell Evohome change mode, your Hue lights flip off, and your Sonos participant cease whenever you depart dwelling.
Yonomi has fundamental management over Hue lights solely, however as a strong strategy to management your house robotically, it is a superb addition to any sensible dwelling. Even higher, its controls function sooner than related guidelines utilizing IFTTT.
Take a look at our complete information to Yonomi.
Download the Android app | Download the iOS app
Thorlight
By default, the Hue app solely provides you relatively boring static gentle settings. Thorlight improves on that with dynamic lighting results that may shift and transfer by way of the colour spectrum.
You should use the app to hyperlink lights which are bodily close to to one another, in order that Thorlight’s animations can unfold and transfer extra naturally by way of a room, giving a extra involving and deeper impact.
There’s a powerful vary of free animations and scenes bundled with the app, however there are additionally different choices that you may unlock with in-app purchases.
HueDisco
When you’re having a home social gathering, or simply need to liven your music up, HueDisco is the app for you. It makes use of your telephone’s speaker to hearken to background music after which makes your Hue lights pop and flash in time to the beat, supplying you with an instantaneous disco.
You get full management over how briskly the lights change (we discovered slower works greatest even for a celebration), the colours used and the utmost brightness. And you may select which bulbs you need to be a part of the disco, leaving some lights on for temper lighting.
$3.99 / £3.99 | Download the Android app | Download the iOS app
iLightShow
iLightShow works alongside related strains to Hue Disco, nevertheless it’s particularly for syncing your lights with no matter’s enjoying on Spotify or Apple Music â so this is not an app to go for if you happen to do all of your streaming by way of YouTube Music or Deezer. As an added bonus, it really works with Lifx and Nanoleaf lights, too.
All you actually should do is join your lights and join your music service of selection, and the app takes care of the remaining. There are a couple of customization choices to mess around with, nevertheless, letting you management the brightness, saturation, colours and timing of the sunshine present generated by your playlists.
Download the Android app | Download the iOS app
Hue TV
The Philips Hue Play Sync field can sync lights in your room to the on-screen motion, supplying you with an immersive gentle present. Itâs an costly choice, although, significantly if you happen to splash out on the brand new Philips Hue Gradient gentle strip.
With the Hue TV app, you utilize your telephone or pill’s digicam educated on the display, Hue TV adjustments your Hue bulbs’ coloration to match the on-screen motion. Utilizing the app means you possibly can’t use your pill or telephone for the rest on the identical time, nevertheless it’s price it for the additional expertise that Hue TV brings. Additionally works with Lifx bulbs.
$2.99 / £2.99 | Download iOS app
Lightbow
When you’re seeking to flip your Philips Hue (you possibly can add in your WeMo or Lifx too) lights into a shocking gentle present to make your room a showstopper, Lightbow for iOS is crucial. It is one of many largest libraries of sunshine exhibits you may get.
Not solely that, however there is a pretty highly effective editor that you need to use to create your individual gentle exhibits. You may management every gentle step, the length of the sunshine step, the colour of the sunshine step, the fades between the steps and the general length. There’s additionally a $24.99 / £24.99 yearly subscription that’ll get you entry to all presets as they proceed to be added to the app.
$4.99 / £4.99| Download the iOS app
Prismify
In order for you the slickest synchronization between Spotify and your Philips Hue lights then Prismify is price a glance (so long as you’ve got obtained an Android telephone relatively than an iPhone): it goals to be as exact and actual time as attainable, constructing on an in depth evaluation of your Spotify tracks to create a light-weight present that actually does really feel completely matched.
One other space the place the app stands out is in its customization choices. You may mess around with the completely different sync settings contained in the app, and even get Prismify to recollect the lighting timings and colours that go along with sure songs in order that they are often repeated the subsequent time the tracks come spherical once more. Whether or not you are on the lookout for a disco or an ambient impact, Prismify may help.
