Last week I was already able to tell you that Philips Hue Secure has received a (promised) new function: Schedules for the security system. With the update to version 5.34 of the Philips Hue app, the feature has now been officially announced once again. The manufacturer provides us with the following information in the update description.
The Connectivity Standards Alliance is not only responsible for the Matter smart home standard, but also takes care of the Zigbee protocol. This technology is used by numerous smart home devices to communicate with each other, including the Philips Hue Bridge and the numerous Philips Hue lamps. A new Zigbee function has now been officially announced: Ambient Sensing.
Philips Hue Secure was launched over a year ago with several camera models and contact sensors. Since then, we have been waiting for an essential function, as the system always had to be activated or deactivated manually. This has now changed – there is now a schedule function. This had already been announced in the past few days, as the update to version 5.33 of the Philips Hue app has already integrated the corresponding menu items into the official application.
Philips Hue only offers its own smart plug in a white version and most other smart plugs for Philips Hue and other smart home applications are equipped with a light-colored housing. Now the Dutch manufacturer Innr is going against the flow and offering its popular SP240 in black. The new smart plug is already listed on Amazon (just search for Innr SP240 in your country), the double pack is sold for a list price of 39.99 euros in Germany.
Last week, Philips Hue released the first update of the year for its app. Version 5.33 officially brings a small improvement for Gradient lamps. Under the hood, however, a little more seems to have happened with this update, especially with regard to Hue Secure. If you tap on the small plus symbol at the top right of the Automations section of the Philips Hue app, you will find a new type of automation at the bottom of the list: “Arming schedule – Automate your Secure system to arm and disarm at specific times.”
In September, Philips Hue launched the second generation of its Sync Box. The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K costs over 300 euros and, unlike most other Hue products, I have not yet tested it myself. Not only do I lack a suitable TV, but also a suitable HDMI device to really get to grips with the new Sync Box.
Shortly after the announcements about Hue Secure and Hue Sync, Philips Hue has delivered the first app update of the year. Version 5.33 of the app is now available for you to download – and there is at least one new function. This revolves around scattered mode, which was originally introduced with the Hue Festavia and is now also available for all other gradient lamps from Philips Hue.
On Monday, I was already able to give you the first information about the new Philips Hue Sync TV app for LG TVs. Signify has now officially confirmed the expansion of the Sync app, which was previously only available for Samsung TVs. All LG TVs equipped with at least webOS 24 will receive the new app.
Almost exactly two years ago, Philips Hue presented the Hue Sync TV app for Samsung televisions at CES in Las Vegas. Since then, an integrated app has made it possible to synchronize up to 10 Hue lights with the current screen content of the TV, regardless of which input source or internal TV app is used.
If you have downloaded the popular iConnectHue application to your iPhone or iPad, you can now look forward to a nice extra. The developer Stefan Göhler has released an animation package for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, with which you can light up your Philips Hue lamps in a particularly impressive way.
Fabian