While the native
Philips Hue app offers great functionality, a host of third party developers have been throwing their hats into the ring, releasing their own apps for controlling the Hue smart lighting system. So whether you’re looking for practicality, entertainment or something to liven up a party, there should be something for everybody in this list.
#1 Hue Disco
Developed by MediaVibe, Hue Disco enables you to turn any room into a dancefloor, by turning music into light. You set the colour range, brightness and microphone sensitivity, and the app will sync your lights to your music based on these settings. The app costs £2.99 and you can
view a demonstration video and download the app here.
#2 Hue Matcher
This is the Android equivalent of the popular Hue Camera app on iOS. The app changes your Hue lights to match the colours on your camera, in the form of either a still image or continuously. This enables you to automatically set mood lighting to match the colours on the screen of the film you’re watching, or quickly and accurately match the colour of your lighting to any colour you can photograph. Hue Matcher is free, and can be
downloaded here.
#3 Hue Notification Switch
The Hue Notification Switch app from Philipp Schumann brings a notification to your device that allows you to control your lighting; so you can switch your lights on and off, adjust the brightness and control individual lights from your notifications quickly, rather than opening an app. This is another paid app at £1.29, and can be
downloaded here.
#4 Hue Pro and Hue Pro Tasker
Hue Pro is a paid app costing £1.89. It provides all of the features of the standard Philips Hue app, with the additional features of being able to schedule events with alarms and timers. This allows you to programme your lights to behave in certain ways at specific times in the future. Hue Pro Tasker is a free add-on application to Hue Pro and provides additional automation functionality. It does this by allowing you to set triggers and actions, such as sunrise, sunset and notifications. The Hue Pro applications are provided by Prismatic LLC, and you can
get started with them here.
#5 Hue Halloween
Another MediaVibe creation, Hue Halloween costs £2.09, and is a sound and effects application that combines your Philips Hue lights and your speakers to create a frightening atmosphere. Ideal for parties or practical jokes! You can
see it in action here, and
purchase and download here.
#6 hueManic
The final app in our list is a freemium application from Urbandroid Team that makes your Hue light bulbs dynamic. Rather than using pre-set static scenes, you can choose from a selection of dynamic scenes with hueManic. Some of the scenes available are Aurora, fireworks, thunder, party lights and fireplace.
Learn more and download here.
