It’s that time of year again. After my appgefahren colleague Frederick and I enjoyed ourselves so much at last year’s CES in Las Vegas, we’re back again this year. And for the first time in several years, Philips Hue is also returning to the gaming metropolis. On Tuesday afternoon, which is already Wednesday night in Europe, a small media event will take place away from the trade fair.
Another new year. I’m kicking off 2026 at full throttle, and over the next 12 months there will once again be fresh news about Philips Hue (almost) every day. In this article, I want to take a look back as well as a look ahead. What will happen on the Hueblog in 2026?
It was the biggest launch in the history of Philips Hue. At the beginning of September, they set off a real fireworks display at the IFA in Berlin, well before New Year’s Eve. That same evening, the people in charge asked me what product I thought was still missing. “No idea,” was my spontaneous answer, after all, they had just presented me with 20 new things.
It’s hard to believe that the year is almost over. Only 10 days left until 2026. Before we get to that point and start speculating about what Philips Hue will bring to market in the new calendar year, I’d like to take a look back with you. Which new Philips Hue product did you like best this year?
Philips Hue has kept its word. When the Hue Bridge Pro was launched in September, the manufacturer announced that it would be possible to migrate more than one bridge before the end of the year. With the update to version 5.57.0 of the Hue app and an accompanying firmware update for the control centers, this very feature was delivered.
I’m using my time on the train home to bring you up to date on the latest software developments. Yesterday, we had our team meeting in Hanover, and on Thursday, we had the Philips Hue Christmas dinner in Hamburg. There, I actually picked up two previously announced items that are not yet available for purchase.
If you’re on the lookout for the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K while Christmas shopping, you might find yourself rubbing your eyes in amazement. No, there isn’t yet another new version of the small HDMI box from Philips Hue, just new packaging. With the introduction of the Hue Play Wallwasher in the summer, the manufacturer began placing its own name more prominently on the packaging.
Over the past few weeks, I have been asked two questions repeatedly: What is the status of the Multi-Bridge migration, and when will the connectors for the Flux light strips be available? In my brief weekly review, I would like to offer a brief assessment of the situation. Let’s start with the Multi-Bridge migration, which was promised for this year.
Together with the Hue Bridge Pro, Philips Hue has introduced a new technology that turns Hue lights into motion sensors. In addition to the new bridge, MotionAware requires three or four lamps in a room, arranged in a suitable configuration. As soon as movement is detected by changes in radio frequencies within this area, the lights can be switched on.
Apart from the numerous Black Friday deals I collected for hueblog.de this week, it has been pretty quiet over the last few days. Even the biweekly mandatory update for the Philips Hue app turned out to be pretty small. “Various bug fixes and stability improvements” is all that the update description for version 5.56.0 of the Hue app says.
Fabian