It is only through the numerous applications from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store that Philips Hue has become what it is today. Here you’ll find the best apps for your smart light.
Just this afternoon I reported on the topic of Sync Box and external inputs, now there is more than interesting news from Philips Hue. At the CES in Las Vegas they announced that the Philips Hue Sync TV App will be released on Samsung Smart TVs. Owners of Samsung QLED TVs built in 2022 (from model Q60) can thus do without the Hue Sync Box.
Only a few days after the major update to version 4.14, developer Stefan Göhler delivers the next update for his app iConnectHue. Version 4.15 is released shortly before Christmas, and not without reason: It contains animations for the new Philips Hue Festavia. The string light is probably already hanging on the Christmas tree of one or the other of you.
More than a year after the original announcement, Philips Hue unlocked the new Natural Light feature yesterday. A 24-hour scene that provides the optimal white light throughout the different times of the day. Cool, activating white tones in the morning and relaxed warm white in the evening. The first big problem: Natural Light can so far only be activated manually in the app.
Last year, Philips Hue already announced the new “Natural Light” feature. After a bit of a false start in the summer, the new feature is finally available with the release of version 4.32 of the Philips Hue app. I would like to briefly introduce you to what you can expect. This is how Philips Hue explains its new feature Natural light uses different shades of warm-to-cool white light that are designed to help you stay productive and feel supported in your overall wellbeing.
Just before Christmas, Philips Hue probably didn’t dare to release the big new feature “Natural Light”. Nevertheless, there is an update – and there are actually some useful functions. If you have a Gradient Lightstrip or another Gradient light source, such as the Signe, in use, you can now also use the mirrored mode known from the Festavia light chain.
To control my Hue lights, I prefer to use the official app from Philips Hue. To configure accessories, I have so far resorted to iConnectHue (App Store link). With the latest update to version 4.14, Stefan Göhler’s app offers numerous new functions around the topic of colours – and thus also becomes really interesting for controlling lamps.
iConnectHue (App Store-Link) is one of the most popular places to go from the Apple App Store when it comes to controlling and configuring Philips Hue. The developer Stefan Göhler always delivers new updates and functions – next he will take care of the gradient control. Until now, you could only use magic scenes in iConnectHue to make the Philips Hue Gradient bulbs shine in multiple colours.
It had been announced for a long time, but now the time has come: If you use the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, you no longer have to use the Hue Sync App to control it. With the update to version 4.31, the functions have been integrated into the Sync section of the Hue app.
I was able to tell you a few weeks ago that Philips Hue is planning to kill off the Sync app as well, following the end of the Bluetooth app. Instead of a separate app for the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, the entire functionality is to be integrated into the normal Hue app.
It has been more than a year since Philips Hue introduced dynamic scenes. Since the launch in September 2021, numerous functions have been added, such as speed adjustment or, most recently, automatic activation. As I have now learned, there should soon be another improvement that actually also has major implications for practice.
Fabian