Philips Hue Discussion

[Superman07]

I know there has been some discussion on this topic, but since this portion of the forum has been newly established I thought it might be good to have a single location to find information on one of the more commons entrants into the home automation space.

Will update first post with more info.

I recently purchased the v2.0 with HomeKit comparability. Setup was pretty straight forward, but the use of apps and interface is throwing me for a bit of a loop.

I've setup some scenes through the native app that work, but I've also setup Rooms through 3rd party apps. However, Siri doesn't recognize those.

Another issue - I don't understand how to setup sharing of these settings with my wife. Do I have to use keychain accounts?

 

[steve knight]

you want to get those other scenes on hue but that's easy just run them open hue choose lights and save it. I got it so now the wife and I both can't use siri hopefully a bug they will work out. I use iconnecthue to program fades in hue but I sue hue's scenes in wedges when I need to manually control lights.

 

[Weaselboy]

Another issue - I don't understand how to setup sharing of these settings with my wife. Do I have to use keychain accounts?

What device is your wife on? I have the Hue 2.0 bridge and the official Hue app in iPhone and iPad and when you login to your Hue account on each device all the settings sync between devices. At least for me it did. There is also a widget you can enable that makes access easy.

I have integrated my Hue devices with an Amazon Echo also and that works well. I can walk in the living room and say "Alexa turn on the living room lights" and presto!

 

[Superman07]

She's running an iPhone 6S (I'm on a 5).

How did you set rooms? Or did set a scene to mimic a room?

Another question - is it possible to set a bulb based on color temperature? I'd like to dial in 2700k.

 

[Alrescha]

I've setup some scenes through the native app that work, but I've also setup Rooms through 3rd party apps. However, Siri doesn't recognize those.

I set up my rooms with Elgato's Eve, and Siri recognizes those. I can say 'Turn on the Kitchen', etc. For my Echo alternative I use an original iPad mini in a speaker/dock.

A.

 

[Weaselboy]

How did you set rooms? Or did set a scene to mimic a room?

That is what I do.... I just add the bulbs in a room to a scene and control it that way either from the iOS apps or the Echo.

I don't know about the color temp issue. You can change the color to match a color temp I'm sure... but I don't see a way to say select 2700k in the settings of the iOS app. There are a bunch of iOS apps out there and maybe one of those would do what you want.

 

[Infinitewisdom]

That is what I do.... I just add the bulbs in a room to a scene and control it that way either from the iOS apps or the Echo.

I don't know about the color demo issue. You can change the color to match a color temp I'm sure... but I don't see a way to say select 2700k in the settings of the iOS app. There are a bunch of iOS apps out there and maybe one of those would do what you want.

That's what I do too. Try the Home app as others have suggested. It's got a helpful Notification Center widget that's cleaner than the Hue widget.

 

[ericgtr12]

What device is your wife on? I have the Hue 2.0 bridge and the official Hue app in iPhone and iPad and when you login to your Hue account on each device all the settings sync between devices. At least for me it did. There is also a widget you can enable that makes access easy.

I have integrated my Hue devices with an Amazon Echo also and that works well. I can walk in the living room and say "Alexa turn on the living room lights" and presto!

How are you liking Amazon Echo? So far it appears to be more advanced (and compatible with more devices) than Siri, who really seems strict for some reason.

 

[Weaselboy]

How are you liking Amazon Echo? So far it appears to be more advanced (and compatible with more devices) than Siri, who really seems strict for some reason.

I have only had it a few weeks, but really enjoy it so far. Like I mentioned, I have it integrated it with the Hue lights, then I have also integrated it with my Logitech Harmony remote using IFTT.

We have it in the living room and use it a lot for quick searches when watching TV. Things like "how old is actor name" and it works really well for that. Off course Siri can do the same thing, but the Echo makes it much quicker and easier.

Surprisingly, my wife (who is not into tech at all) really likes the Echo a lot.

 

[ericgtr12]

I have only had it a few weeks, but really enjoy it so far. Like I mentioned, I have it integrated it with the Hue lights, then I have also integrated it with my Logitech Harmony remote using IFTT.

We have it in the living room and use it a lot for quick searches when watching TV. Things like "how old is actor name" and it works really well for that. Off course Siri can do the same thing, but the Echo makes it much quicker and easier.

Surprisingly, my wife (who is not into tech at all) really likes the Echo a lot.

Okay, I just pulled the trigger, in particular because I have a bunch of WEMO switches it will be nice to use with this. Hoping my wife likes as much as yours because she won't like me spending that much money lol.

 

[Weaselboy]

Okay, I just pulled the trigger, in particular because I have a bunch of WEMO switches it will be nice to use with this. Hoping my wife likes as much as yours because she won't like me spending that much money lol.

WEMO is nice because it integrates directly with no hub. I'm thinking of getting some myself.

http://www.echotalk.org/index.php

Here is a forum I found with lots of helpful Echo info.

http://lovemyecho.com

This blog is a good resource also. My wife enjoys some of the "stupid Echo tricks" listed there.

 

[Superman07]

I tried Huemote. It lets you set up rooms, in addition to scenes and lights, but Siri doesn't seem to recognize them. I assume they are not supported?

So what's the difference between a Hue account and iCloud Keychain? Apple infers keychain settings can be shared within home.

Has anybody used an app to sync with music?

 

[Weaselboy]

I tried Huemote. It lets you set up rooms, in addition to scenes and lights, but Siri doesn't seem to recognize them. I assume they are not supported?

So what's the difference between a Hue account and iCloud Keychain? Apple infers keychain settings can be shared within home.

Has anybody used an app to sync with music?

I have not played much with the third party apps, so can't help you there. I just use the Phillips Hue app.

If you setup a Phillips Hue account at this site or in the Phillips Hue app, it will sync all your scenes and settings between the web site and the apps. iCloud keychain is nothing but a means to store and sync passwords in general.

https://my.meethue.com/en-us/my-scenes

Have not tried any of the music apps myself.

I did setup one light with IFTT so it comes on at sundown each day then turns off at 11PM. It is sort of a backlight that sits on the floor it the corner facing up toward the corner and. There are a lot of fun things you can mess around with on IFTT. I have one IFTT recipe setup to flash a living room lamp when an Amazon Echo alarm goes off.

 

[chuyn]

I tried Huemote. It lets you set up rooms, in addition to scenes and lights, but Siri doesn't seem to recognize them. I assume they are not supported?

So what's the difference between a Hue account and iCloud Keychain? Apple infers keychain settings can be shared within home.

Has anybody used an app to sync with music?

iCloud Keychain needs to be on in order to use HomeKit in general. It's a bit confusing to share with others. To share Siri control to your HomeKit devices, you use whichever app (or I believe this can be done in the phone's settings too) to add a person to your home. Now they'll be able to use Siri at home to control things but can't edit or use Siri remotely.

Philips hue scenes are a bit different. Before HomeKit was added, to share scenes between devices, you would just log into your hue account on both devices, make sure the "share scenes" option is checked, and the scenes should show up and be used from either device. So now, a different phone can be used to access the hue scenes. But this new user can only use Siri to control the scenes if they've been added to the home by the main HomeKit user.

As for rooms, I'm not familiar with Huemote, but you would need to use a HomeKit app to set up the rooms. Any HomeKit compatible app will do. The Hue app lets you name each light, but in my case, I believe I used the Insteon+ app to assign them to rooms. Another recommended free app is the Eve app. It will let you assign whichever lights to whichever rooms in groups, so you'll later be able to say "Hey Siri, turn on the living room lights", or "Turn the bedroom lights purple", etc.

For music apps, I've only tried Hue Disco. It's fun, but you do have to leave your phone out with the app running the whole time.

 

[Superman07]

Thank you, that was very helpful - even though still confusing. I'll try experimenting with another device to see how all the settings work. Without adjusting anything my iPad isn't smart enough to know I'm the same user as my phone, even though my iMessages are routed correctly...

 

[chuyn]

Thank you, that was very helpful - even though still confusing. I'll try experimenting with another device to see how all the settings work. Without adjusting anything my iPad isn't smart enough to know I'm the same user as my phone, even though my iMessages are routed correctly...

Do you mean trying to use Siri on your iPad to control the lights? I've never tried that one yet... I'll have to give it a shot later, but Siri does works fine for my phone and watch.

If you mean the scenes in the actual Philips Hue app on the iPad though, that could be the issue of signing into your hue account on the iPad. It frustrated me because I would install the app on my phone, have all the default scenes, then I created my own set of custom scenes. When I installed the app on the iPad, it too had the default scenes. Then when I signed into my hue account on the iPad app, it not only took a while for my custom scenes to sync over, but some default scenes showed up twice (one being the default app on the iPad app, the second being the default scene I edited on the phone app to use 4 bulbs). It doesn't rely on your Apple ID at all. Just the hue account and making sure both apps have "scene sharing" checked in the settings menu.

I've found the easiest way to manage which scenes are available on each device is through their website. I have 2 iPhones, one iPad, and a harmony remote that show my scenes. Going on the website, you can see which default scene might be duplicated, as well as check which devices a scene is available on.

 

[Weaselboy]

Thank you, that was very helpful - even though still confusing. I'll try experimenting with another device to see how all the settings work. Without adjusting anything my iPad isn't smart enough to know I'm the same user as my phone, even though my iMessages are routed correctly...

You mentioned Siri earlier. Are you having a problem using Siri on the iPad and the iPhone works okay?

I ran into this also and there is currently a bug where the device used to setup the system is the only one that will work with Siri. It will only allow one iCloud/iOS device at a time to be activated using Siri and HomeKit. I finally figured out how to disable Homekit/Sir on my iPad so I could activate it on my iPhone. There is some discussion and links here.

But the Phillips Hue app syncs between both fine using the Phillips Hue login account.

 

[Alrescha]

I ran into this also and there is currently a bug where the device used to setup the system is the only one that will work with Siri. It will only allow one iCloud/iOS device at a time to be activated using Siri and HomeKit.

I must be one of the lucky ones, in that I have HomeKit/Siri working on my iPhone and two iPads. I have the Hue app installed on all three - but I only set up scenes for Siri on one of them. It works the same on all three devices.

edit: I have had Siri stop working occasionally on one device, but all I do to fix that is to run the Hue app and verify the settings and that it is working properly. Siri works the next time I try it.

A.

 

[Weaselboy]

I must be one of the lucky ones, in that I have HomeKit/Siri working on my iPhone and two iPads. I have the Hue app installed on all three - but I only set up scenes for Siri on one of them. It works the same on all three devices.

edit: I have had Siri stop working occasionally on one device, but all I do to fix that is to run the Hue app and verify the settings and that it is working properly. Siri works the next time I try it.

A.

I think this bug only manifests if you have iCloud Keychain turned on. Do you have it on?

 

[Alrescha]

I think this bug only manifests if you have iCloud Keychain turned on. Do you have it on?

Yes, I am fully iCloud enabled ;-)

 

[Weaselboy]

Yes, I am fully iCloud enabled ;-)

Hmm... I had nothing but trouble and there were about one bajillion posts on different forums with the same issue. I wonder what you did differently.

 

[Alrescha]

Hmm... I had nothing but trouble and there were about one bajillion posts on different forums with the same issue. I wonder what you did differently.

I honestly do not know. I set everything up on one device first and verified that it all worked. When I set up the second device, I did get an iCloud Sync error, but I hit retry a couple of times and that went away. The scenes that I enabled for Siri on the first device worked on the subsequent devices without any action on my part.

What I did *not* do was reset everything at the first hint of trouble - from my reading that causes more problems than it solves.

A.

 

[ericgtr12]

WEMO is nice because it integrates directly with no hub. I'm thinking of getting some myself.

http://www.echotalk.org/index.php

Here is a forum I found with lots of helpful Echo info.

http://lovemyecho.com

This blog is a good resource also. My wife enjoys some of the "stupid Echo tricks" listed there.

Thanks! I had no idea how hot of an item this thing is, Home Depot said they got 17 in a week ago and sold out that same day,the lady said all their stores did. I did originally order through Amazon and thought I was getting two day shipping but it turned out to be two weeks out because they're back ordered. Looks like I'm jut going to have to wait but I really want it now!

 

[Weaselboy]

Looks like I'm jut going to have to wait but I really want it now!

Dang... you might check Staples if you have one. They sell the Echo also.

I have a neighbor who saw mine and liked it and for Christmas bought four of them. Once for himself and one for each of his adult children.

I'm looking forward to seeing what new features they add.

 

[steve knight]

my wife is blind and the echo was great for her to get the time and such faster then pulling out her iphone. we don't use it as much once she got her watch though we used it for timers and such.