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.
A little patience is still needed until Philips Hue officially presents its new products on 1st September. I have already given you a small preview of some of the new products this week. More products are still expected, although some of them will only be available in October. Of course, the launch of the Gradient products is particularly exciting.
I have already mentioned it several times in the past: Many of you miss the widgets. With the launch of the new Philips Hue app they were banned from iPhone and iPad, as an alternative you are supposed to use Siri shortcuts. For many Hue fans, this is not a satisfying alternative.
If you opened the Software Update section in the Hue app this week, you may have wondered about the large amount of updates available. Signify has not yet commented on the details of the new firmware in the release notes, but I can provide you with more information. Philips Hue is laying the foundation for dynamic scenes with the current firmware update for virtually all light bulbs and sockets.
Philips Hue has released app version 4.2 for iOS and Android. And as of now, the timers are back. They are well hidden: You can find them in the “Automations” section and have to scroll down quite a bit – the timers have made it into the app as the penultimate function.
One of the biggest criticisms of the current Philips Hue app for many users is the tile view. What still looks quite pretty with the scenes and is also quite good to use thanks to two rows, is a big cramp with the lamps. Here, only one row is used for the display and on many smartphones there is a lot of unused space, yet you can only see three bulbs without having to scroll horizontally.
The subject of widgets has kept the Hue community very busy in recent weeks. Not without reason, because the widgets, which were popular with many users, have been virtually eliminated without replacement on the iPhone and iPad. Siri shortcuts and the corresponding iOS widgets are to serve as a replacement. A workaround, because only these can perform actions directly from the homescreen without having to open the Hue app.
On Wednesday evening, Philips Hue released version 4.1 of its app and fine-tuned it again. Today I would like to take a look at one particular change: “Made it easier to select and change the color of a single light in the color picker”. This small innovation means that you can no longer drag several lamps together in the colour selector and then simply move them together to change the colour of several Hue lamps at the same time.
Motion sensors are a really great thing. They can automatically switch on the light depending on the brightness and time of day when you move through the room. In my home, I have activated a motion sensor in the stairwell that activates a night light for 30 seconds at night, for example.
I announced it quite a while ago, now it is finally available in the App Store and also in the Google Play Store. The latest update for the Philips Hue app, which at least fixes a few small things. In the new version of the app, you can finally dim lamps directly in the room view again – to do this, you simply hold your finger down on a switched-on lamp for a long time and can then move your finger up or down to adjust the brightness.
Along with the launch of the new Philips Hue app in June, our favourite manufacturer has announced a new feature that will be unlocked with a later update: Dynamic Scenes. In this article I would like to keep you updated with all the information around these new possibilities. What do you have to look out for?
Fabian
Frederick