One of the best Philips Hue apps to shake up your sensible lighting

What the common Philips Hue app offers in operate, letting you arrange scenes and management the colour and dimming degree of your sensible mild bulbs, it lacks in enjoyable.

The place are the dynamic lights that shift by means of colours routinely, or lighting that adjustments colour to match daylight?

Luckily, all of those options and extra can be found due to Hue’s surprisingly open API that permits just about anybody to make their very own app. Change to one in all our greatest Philips Hue apps and you’ll discover that your mild can accomplish that far more than you thought.

As you’ll be able to think about, the selection is overwhelming, with a whole bunch of apps of pure dross on the market. We’ve trawled by means of a tonne of apps to search out out which of them are greatest, on the lookout for people who lengthen the expertise and add one thing new.

There are completely different apps for iOS and Android, however we’ve famous down which of our decisions can be found for every, so you’ll be able to select the very best for you.

All Hue apps must be linked to the Philips Hue Bridge by tapping the join button when prompted on-screen. It does imply that if you’re operating Hue lights in Bluetooth mode, you won’t be capable to use any of those apps.

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OnSwitch

In some ways, OnSwitch is the app that Hue ought to have constructed. Appropriate with Hue and Lifx sensible bulbs, OnSwitch offers you the entire primary management you’d anticipate, 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 regularly provides new scenes (a lot of that are paid-for), giving new choices to the season and even sporting occasions.

Obtain the Android app | Obtain the iOS app

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iConnectHue

iConnectHue is without doubt one of the most complete third-party Hue apps within the enterprise in the intervening time, and it’s solely accessible for iOS. It has a variety of options, together with automated timings, music syncing, easy mild grouping, intuitive colour administration and many extra apart from.

You’ve got acquired 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 gadgets.

$4.99 | Obtain the iOS app

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QuickHue

An Android-only app, QuickHue places an on/off change in your phone’s pull-down Fast Settings, so you’ll be able to shortly management your lights. It’s actually so simple as that.

There’s a free model accessible, 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 might lose a number of the fancy options of different apps on this checklist, however it’s a helpful addition and might save time delving by means of different apps.

Obtain the Android app

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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’ll be able to shake a lightweight strip at. Need to get the social gathering banging? There may be some neat sound-to-light disco modes in right here. You’ll be able to even create ‘ambiences’ from photographs.

The hueDynamic app additionally helps you to level your telephone’s digital camera on the TV whilst you’re watching a film to sync your lights for added ‘atmosphere’. And here is a welcome bonus: You’ll be able to management lights on a number of bridges with out having to change between them.

Obtain the Android app | Obtain the iOS app

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Apple Dwelling

One for Apple customers solely, clearly, the Dwelling app would possibly appear to be an odd addition right here, but it surely now presents one function that Hue doesn’t: Adaptive Lighting. When you choose the Adaptive Lighting choice within the Dwelling app, your chosen apps will regulate colour temperature routinely by means of the day: hotter within the morning, colder mild in the midst of the day, and no blue mild for the night.

The one minor situation is that when you 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.

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Yonomi

Yonomi helps you to automate your property with highly effective routines, and helps gadgets from most main producers, together with Philips Hue. For instance, you’ll be able to have your Honeywell Evohome change mode, your Hue lights flip off, and your Sonos participant cease once you go away house.

Yonomi has primary management over Hue lights solely, however as a robust technique to management your property routinely, it is a wonderful addition to any sensible house. Even higher, its controls function quicker than related guidelines utilizing IFTTT.

Try our complete information to Yonomi.

Obtain the Android app | Obtain the iOS app

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Thorlight

By default, the Hue app solely offers you quite boring static mild settings. Thorlight improves on that with dynamic lighting results that may shift and transfer by means of the colour spectrum.

You need to use the app to hyperlink lights which can be bodily close to to one another, in order that Thorlight’s animations can unfold and transfer extra naturally by means 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 which you could unlock with in-app purchases.

Obtain the iOS app

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HueDisco

In case 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 take heed to background music after which makes your Hue lights pop and flash in time to the beat, supplying you with an immediate 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 | Obtain the Android app | Obtain the iOS app

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iLightShow

iLightShow works alongside related strains to Hue Disco, but it surely’s particularly for syncing your lights with no matter’s enjoying on Spotify or Apple Music – so this is not an app to go for when you do all of your streaming by means of YouTube Music or Deezer. As an added bonus, it really works with Lifx and Nanoleaf lights, too.

All you actually must do is join your lights and join your music service of selection, and the app takes care of the remainder. There are a couple of customization choices to mess around with, nonetheless, letting you management the brightness, saturation, colours and timing of the sunshine present generated by your playlists.

Obtain the Android app | Obtain the iOS app

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Hue TV

The Philips Hue Play Sync field can sync lights in your room to the on-screen motion, supplying you with an immersive mild present. It’s an costly choice, although, notably when you splash out on the brand new Philips Hue Gradient mild strip.

With the Hue TV app, you utilize your telephone or pill’s digital camera educated on the display, Hue TV adjustments your Hue bulbs’ colour to match the on-screen motion. Utilizing the app means you’ll be able to’t use your pill or telephone for anything on the identical time, but it surely’s value it for the additional expertise that Hue TV brings. Additionally works with Lifx bulbs.

$2.99 / £2.99 | Obtain iOS app

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Lightbow

In case you’re seeking to flip your Philips Hue (you’ll be able to add in your WeMo or Lifx too) lights into a shocking mild present to make your room a showstopper, Lightbow for iOS is important. It is one of many largest libraries of sunshine reveals you will get.

Not solely that, however there is a pretty highly effective editor that you should utilize to create your personal mild reveals. You’ll be able to management every mild step, the period of the sunshine step, the colour of the sunshine step, the fades between the steps and the general period. 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| Obtain the iOS app

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Prismify

In order for you the slickest synchronization between Spotify and your Philips Hue lights then Prismify is value a glance (so long as you have acquired an Android telephone quite than an iPhone): it goals to be as exact and actual time as potential, constructing on an in depth evaluation of your Spotify tracks to create a lightweight present that actually does really feel completely matched.

One other space the place the app stands out is in its customization choices. You’ll be able to 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 following time the tracks come spherical once more. Whether or not you are on the lookout for a disco or an ambient impact, Prismify will help.

Obtain the Android app