Philips Hue connected bulbs now supported by over 200 third-party iOS apps

Posted:
in iPhone edited May 2015
The popular Philips Hue connected LED lightbulbs reached a new milestone this week, with more than 200 third-party applications for iOS now compatible with the smart home accessory.





Applications that tap into the Hue bulbs are possible thanks to an official software development kit and official application programming interfaces made public by Philips last year. With these apps, the Wi-Fi-enabled LED bulbs can be powered on and off or have their color changed remotely, interacting with functions available on the iPhone and iPad.

To commemorate the occasion, Philips this week spotlighted three Halloween-themed Hue apps that can be downloaded from the App Store. They are:
  • Hue Halloween ($1.99) - combines haunting sounds and lighting effects, such as eerie piano music and ghost sounds.
  • Hue Disco ($2.99) - turns your living room into a sound and light show by syncing Philips Hue bulbs to the beat of any song.
  • Hue Remote ($2.99) - can program your lights to deliver a frightening light show every time trick-or-treaters ring your doorbell.
To aid its growing development community, Philips also recently launched a new site where it offers articles and advice on how to make the most of Hue's open API.




"This milestone in apps confirms that Philips Hue has redefined the purpose of what light can do in people's homes," said Jeroen de Waal, general manager of Connected Lighting for the Home at Philips Lighting. "Looking towards the future where many aspects of a home will be connected with Internet of Things, we are eager to continue leading the way in connected lighting for the home. With this in mind, we welcome further collaborations with developers to deliver the best possible lighting experience."

Other noteworthy Hue apps available for download include:
  • Syfy Sync (free) - allows viewers of Syfy movies such as "Sharknado" to have their lights sync with the program, using a specially designed "light track" to take cues and adjust to the action.
  • Ambify ($2.99) - Listens to your music and turns your living room into a light show
  • Huedini ($0.99) - Helps you soothe and relax after a hard day's work by slowly pulsing your lights up and down like a breath cycle.
  • Espresso for Hue ($0.99) - Uses smart themes inspired by the most beautiful places on earth to generate subtle light combinations.
For a more comprehensive list of Hue-controlling iOS applications, see Philips's developer site. The Philips Hue starter pack with hub and three bulbs is currently on sale at Amazon for $181.98, while extra individual bulbs can be purchased for $59.97.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 30
    Thanks for doing this article! The Philips developer community is a really cool ecosystem, and in stark contrast to similar products (I'm looking at YOU, Belkin WeMo) Philips actually has pretty good relationships with their developers. Buying apps like these helps us make all the cool feature sets that they don't have time to do in their main app. Users interested in more custom control over their light animations / color loops should check out Lightbow on the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lightbow-for-philips-hue-lifx/id695235159?mt=8&uo=4&at=1l3vsch

    (or just do a search for "Philips hue" on the App Store. There are a ton of cool ones.)
  • Reply 2 of 30

    What is the point of this little trick behind those 2 pics??

     

    http://www.amazon.com/Philips-431643-Personal-Wireless-Frustration/dp/B00BSN8DN4/?tag=reality

  • Reply 3 of 30
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member

    When the bulbs drop below $20, we'll give them a shot. $60 a piece is ridiculous. I stick with LED RGB strip with horse race module.

  • Reply 4 of 30
    I'm just waiting for Sleep Cycle to integrate with Philips Hue so that it can wake me up with soft lights.
  • Reply 5 of 30

    Is there a competitor that has all the same features for half the price? I mean, it's one thing to get what you pay for, and then there's diminishing returns when something is priced as an excessive luxury item just because they can.

  • Reply 6 of 30
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member

    One of my favorite third party Hue apps is Goldee. The dynamic scenes are really cool. The app I use the most is Rapid Hue. It has a very simple interface to individually control all your Hue lights. Has anyone seen the new Hue Beyond lamps anywhere? Supposedly they were released last month but no one carries them. 

  • Reply 7 of 30
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fuzzypaws View Post

     

    Is there a competitor that has all the same features for half the price? I mean, it's one thing to get what you pay for, and then there's diminishing returns when something is priced as an excessive luxury item just because they can.


    Not that I know of. I have seen cheaper wifi lights, but I would question the quality. Hue is expensive, but the lights are good quality and supposedly have a 15 year lifespan. Personally, I'm happy with my purchase of the Hue starter pack and additional bulbs. 

  • Reply 8 of 30
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by renstein View Post



    I'm just waiting for Sleep Cycle to integrate with Philips Hue so that it can wake me up with soft lights.

    The Goldee app does that. 

  • Reply 9 of 30

    I just wish that I could try them all.  

     

    On a side note, this is my sole Halloween decoration for this year:

     

     

    (Created with Hue LIFX Scintilator)

  • Reply 10 of 30
    Until there's a viable competitor, the prices will stay exorbitantly high. At least there's a company working in this space - it may be expensive, but at least I have the option to get something cool like this without hiring a team of experts in the future, if I ever have all kinds of expendable cash.
  • Reply 11 of 30
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Boltsfan17 View Post

     

    Not that I know of. I have seen cheaper wifi lights, but I would question the quality. Hue is expensive, but the lights are good quality and supposedly have a 15 year lifespan. Personally, I'm happy with my purchase of the Hue starter pack and additional bulbs. 


    "Suppose", yes. In fact, no LED light would last close to it. The LED itself lasts long, but the electronic components inside each bulb won't. Therefore, the bulb will be dead by half life of LED.

  • Reply 12 of 30
    2oh12oh1 Posts: 503member

    Even better than using 3rd party apps, the code that controls Philips Hue bulbs is open, so once you figure out the basics, you can control Hue with Applescript from your Mac.  Why would you want to do that?  Well, if you pair your Mac up with an Apple Remote (I'm talking about the $20 physical remote control Apple sells for Macs and Apple TV) and BetterTouchTool, you can control your lights by remote control.  Just assign each button to trigger an Applescript.  Controlling your lights by remote is a million times more convenient than having to reach for your iPhone, opening an app and then pressing in-app buttons.  With automator, I created a quick app that I turn on when I get ready for bed that mutes my Mac and slowly turns down my lights over ten minutes until they turn off.  That gives me enough time to brush my teeth & go to bed without having to stumble in the dark.

     

    I love my Hue lights.  I bought a starter pack over a year ago as a geeky gift for myself, thinking it'd be fun to mess with...  but I had no idea how wonderful of a change lighting can really make for a home.  Instead of white light, add just a hint of yellow and red & the mood softens a lot.  It just feels better.

     

    I can't say enough good things about Hue.

  • Reply 14 of 30
    robmrobm Posts: 1,068member
    2oh1 wrote: »
    Even better than using 3rd party apps, the code that controls Philips Hue bulbs is open, so once you figure out the basics, you can control Hue with Applescript from your Mac.  Why would you want to do that?  Well, if you pair your Mac up with an Apple Remote (I'm talking about the $20 physical remote control Apple sells for Macs and Apple TV) and BetterTouchTool, you can control your lights by remote control.  Just assign each button to trigger an Applescript.  Controlling your lights by remote is a million times more convenient than having to reach for your iPhone, opening an app and then pressing in-app buttons.  With automator, I created a quick app that I turn on when I get ready for bed that mutes my Mac and slowly turns down my lights over ten minutes until they turn off.  That gives me enough time to brush my teeth & go to bed without having to stumble in the dark.

    I love my Hue lights.  I bought a starter pack over a year ago as a geeky gift for myself, thinking it'd be fun to mess with...  but I had no idea how wonderful of a change lighting can really make for a home.  Instead of white light, add just a hint of yellow and red & the mood softens a lot.  It just feels better.

    I can't say enough good things about Hue.


    I'd never have thought of that !

    You, sir, are a geek. :p
  • Reply 15 of 30
    misamisa Posts: 827member
    fallenjt wrote: »
    When the bulbs drop below $20, we'll give them a shot. $60 a piece is ridiculous. I stick with LED RGB strip with horse race module.

    My apartment has 3 LED bulbs that I bought myself on different days. The bathroom and kitchen have CFL's. The LED bulbs At 50$ each or so, I'm not going to be quick to replace them.

    The first bulb still works, and I bought that one when I moved in. But it's also the one that is the most dim as I think it was meant to replace a 40 watt. I have a feeling that I may end up replacing the bulbs before they burn out, if only to get more efficient models. I'm somewhat skeptical however of the need for wireless lights. It seems they make a LOT of sense for lights that are hard to reach (chandelier and ceiling fans) but the single-bulb lights that most people have are inefficient even at the best of times. It would make more sense for new lighting systems to replace the entire light bulb socket, rather than retrofit bulb shaped lights into conventional edison type sockets.

    What I would like are light arrays rather than single bulbs that can be direction controlled in addition to the color temperature and brightness.
  • Reply 16 of 30
    profprof Posts: 84member
    "the Wi-Fi-enabled LED bulbs"

    The trick is: Hue is not using the crappy Wi-Fi but ZigBee.
  • Reply 17 of 30

    I was put off by the price since it came out but finally broke down and got the starter kit. I'm very happy with the gizmos, gives my studio the perfect atmosphere.

  • Reply 18 of 30
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member

    Just look how many Hues are used to illuminate that room... and it's still dark.

     

    Hues aren't efficient, they're way too expensive, and they're not even recommended for use in enclosed fixtures.

  • Reply 19 of 30



    Thanks

  • Reply 20 of 30
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by fallenjt View Post

     

    "Suppose", yes. In fact, no LED light would last close to it. The LED itself lasts long, but the electronic components inside each bulb won't. Therefore, the bulb will be dead by half life of LED.


     

    really? tell that to all my old laptops.

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