AppleInsider Staff
The popular Philips Hue connected LED lightbulbs reached a new milestone this week, with more than 200 third-party applications for iOS now compatible with the smart home accessory.
Applications that tap into the Hue bulbs are possible thanks to an official software development kit and official application programming interfaces made public by Philips last year. With these apps, the Wi-Fi-enabled LED bulbs can be powered on and off or have their color changed remotely, interacting with functions available on the iPhone and iPad.
To commemorate the occasion, Philips this week spotlighted three Halloween-themed Hue apps that can be downloaded from the App Store. They are:
- Hue Halloween ($1.99) - combines haunting sounds and lighting effects, such as eerie piano music and ghost sounds.
- Hue Disco ($2.99) - turns your living room into a sound and light show by syncing Philips Hue bulbs to the beat of any song.
- Hue Remote ($2.99) - can program your lights to deliver a frightening light show every time trick-or-treaters ring your doorbell.
To aid its growing development community, Philips also recently launched a new site where it offers articles and advice on how to make the most of Hue's open API.
"This milestone in apps confirms that Philips Hue has redefined the purpose of what light can do in people's homes," said Jeroen de Waal, general manager of Connected Lighting for the Home at Philips Lighting. "Looking towards the future where many aspects of a home will be connected with Internet of Things, we are eager to continue leading the way in connected lighting for the home. With this in mind, we welcome further collaborations with developers to deliver the best possible lighting experience."
Other noteworthy Hue apps available for download include:
- Syfy Sync (free) - allows viewers of Syfy movies such as "Sharknado" to have their lights sync with the program, using a specially designed "light track" to take cues and adjust to the action.
- Ambify ($2.99) - Listens to your music and turns your living room into a light show
- Huedini ($0.99) - Helps you soothe and relax after a hard day's work by slowly pulsing your lights up and down like a breath cycle.
- Espresso for Hue ($0.99) - Uses smart themes inspired by the most beautiful places on earth to generate subtle light combinations.
For a more comprehensive list of Hue-controlling iOS applications, see Philips's developer site. The Philips Hue starter pack with hub and three bulbs is currently on sale at Amazon for $181.98, while extra individual bulbs can be purchased for $59.97.
Malcolm Owen
Oliver Haslam
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Christine McKee
30 Comments
Thanks for doing this article! The Philips developer community is a really cool ecosystem, and in stark contrast to similar products (I'm looking at YOU, Belkin WeMo) Philips actually has pretty good relationships with their developers. Buying apps like these helps us make all the cool feature sets that they don't have time to do in their main app. Users interested in more custom control over their light animations / color loops should check out Lightbow on the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lightbow-for-philips-hue-lifx/id695235159?mt=8&uo=4&at=1l3vsch (or just do a search for "Philips hue" on the App Store. There are a ton of cool ones.)
What is the point of this little trick behind those 2 pics??
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-431643-Personal-Wireless-Frustration/dp/B00BSN8DN4/?tag=reality
When the bulbs drop below $20, we'll give them a shot. $60 a piece is ridiculous. I stick with LED RGB strip with horse race module.
I'm just waiting for Sleep Cycle to integrate with Philips Hue so that it can wake me up with soft lights.
Is there a competitor that has all the same features for half the price? I mean, it's one thing to get what you pay for, and then there's diminishing returns when something is priced as an excessive luxury item just because they can.