Control Hue lights even more precisely with the dimmer switch

With a retail price of less than $20, the Philips Hue dimmer switch is not only a very affordable but also a very popular way to control individual or multiple lights in a smart home with Philips Hue. A few days ago, an interesting question about the dimmer switch popped up in my comments section. Hueblog reader Robert writes, among other things:

It bothers me that you can’t adjust the brightness more precisely, but only in individual steps. To be precise, there are five steps, but you can only see them when you open the Hue app for the respective lamp. If you only use the switch on its own, this isn’t so noticeable, but I would still like to be able to adjust the brightness more precisely using the buttons.

As we all know, the Philips Hue dimmer switch has a total of four buttons: an on/off switch, a Hue button that can be used to set scenes, and two buttons for adjusting the brightness. Unfortunately, it is not possible to configure these buttons more precisely.

This is not a problem with apps such as iConnectHue – and I already addressed this issue around eight years ago in relation to the old dimmer switch. Fortunately, nothing has changed with the new model.

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‎iConnectHue für Philips Hue

Developer: Stefan Gohler

Price: 4,99 €⁺

Fine-tune the dimmer switch with iConnectHue

If you open the settings of the Philips Hue dimmer switch with iConnectHue, you can fine-tune the dimming behavior much better. When you press the button for the first time, there is normally a 12 percent jump. Using the down arrow and the “Brightness” slider that appears there, you can freely adjust the value, for example to just 1 percent. In addition, you can select another gradation for a long press in the “When held” section. Larger increments are recommended here; the default value is set to 20 percent.

In both menus, you also have the option of setting the fade time. The shorter the time you select here, the faster the desired light will jump to the new value. The longer the time, the smoother the transition to the new value.

In particular, the two different settings for pressing once or holding down for a long time make a real difference in practice. It’s a shame that this isn’t possible directly in the Philips Hue app.

Philips Hue Dimmer Switch

$27.99 / €21.99 / £19.99

Dim or brighten the room, toggle light scenes or get the best light based on the time of day. The Hue dimmer switch attaches to walls or magnetic surfaces, but can also be used as a remote control anywhere in your home.

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