A few days ago, Philips Hue published an interesting announcement on the official developer website for all developers working on applications around the Hue system. The second version of the Hue API, which was launched a few weeks ago, can now also be used by them. The new interface is not yet completely finished, some special functions such as dynamic scenes, the gradient technology or also the fast transmission of status changes can already be integrated in third-party apps.
I wouldn’t want to live without my Philips TV with built-in Ambilight. And Philips Hue is also high on my list of favourites, of course. But to make a common cause with these two “Philips” products is by now anything but recommendable. On no other topic have I received so many letters, comments and questions in the last week.
As already announced last week, Philips Hue has introduced an exciting innovation around the dynamic scenes with the now released update to version 4.8 of the official app. From now on, the speed of these scenes can be adjusted. The special feature here is that each dynamic scene from the Hue Light Scene Gallery comes with its own default setting, so that the speed of the colour changes matches the mood of the scene.
Personally, I still don’t really like the look of Hue Essentials (Apple/Android), but that is ultimately a matter of personal taste. What is clear is that the app offers numerous functions that are not available in the Hue app. With the update to version 1.17.0, however, a function is now added that was originally introduced with the Hue app: You can colour gradient products with colour gradients.
Philips Hue on the Apple Watch, that was a no-brainer until a few months ago. With the launch of Philips Hue 4.0, however, not only have the popular widgets disappeared, but the Apple Watch has also been dropped – and without replacement. But it seems that Philips Hue has not quite finished with the Apple Watch yet.
A few weeks ago I praised the software development team of Philips Hue: Currently, new features are delivered almost every two weeks. Now the release of version 4.8 is imminent. With this update, Philips Hue will introduce a feature that many of us have been waiting for. The dynamic scenes introduced a few weeks ago will be a bit better with the upcoming update, when you will also be able to freely adjust the speed of the animation.
If you are actively involved in the smart home world, you may have come across the name Flic. The young start-up has successfully completed a crowdfunding campaign and has been successful with its smart buttons for some time. From Tuesday, you will be able to support the company’s next product – again on Kickstarter.
For a little more than a month now, Philips Hue has been offering the possibility to freely select three colours for gradient products and to create automatically generated colour gradients based on this. Later, depending on the product, it will be possible to select even more colours, at least according to Hue inventor George Yianni.
Since today, version 4.7 of the Philips Hue app is available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. As already announced by me, the dynamic scenes learn a lot with the update and work not only with the preset scenes, but also with self-created ones. Of course, this offers even more possibilities, even if the setting for adjusting the speed has unfortunately not yet been made available with this update.
At the end of the month, Philips Hue will launch another new Gradient product: The Philips Hue Play Gradient Light Tube. It is an LED tube that will be available in a total of four different versions: An 87.7 centimetre small “Compact” version in white or black for 179.99 euros and a 137.7 centimetre long “Large” version in the same colours for 199.99 euros each.
Fabian