Best way to control Philips Hue?

[Mad Mac Maniac]

I just got a starter kit of 3 color lights (and a few more lights on the way). I’ve been kinda messing around with it a little bit, but it’s kind of overwhelming with the amount of ways to control it.

I have echo devices, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch. Between the home app, the slew of Hue apps, the Alexa app, the Echo devices, Siri, Apple Watch, and widgets, it seems like they all provide different ways to control. And it seems like Alexa doesn’t really stay in sync (as I’m adjusting rooms/names/etc) with Hue/HomeKit.

What is the way you control your Hue Lights?

 

[cynics]

I just got a starter kit of 3 color lights (and a few more lights on the way). I’ve been kinda messing around with it a little bit, but it’s kind of overwhelming with the amount of ways to control it.

I have echo devices, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch. Between the home app, the slew of Hue apps, the Alexa app, the Echo devices, Siri, Apple Watch, and widgets, it seems like they all provide different ways to control. And it seems like Alexa doesn’t really stay in sync (as I’m adjusting rooms/names/etc) with Hue/HomeKit.

What is the way you control your Hue Lights?

Automations via the Home app and Siri.

I'll use the Hue app for the occasional temperature adjustment (soft white to daylight) although now that the honeymoon period has worn off I rarely change it from soft white.

 

[bbednarz]

I control my lights any number of ways depending on my mood lol. There are the Hue tap/wall switches that I have now setup through HomeKit to provide a bit more functionality with scenes. I also have 3 motion sensors setup in the kitchen, bathroom, and backdoor.

For voice control I have a couple of Echo's that I primarily use. But depending if I want to set a specific scene or am in a room without an Echo I will summon Siri on my phone. I would venture to say 85% of my voice commands are through the Echo though.

When changing things on the phone it really depends on what I am trying to do. If I need to adjust the color or brightness of a specific room I have found it is easiest to just go through the Hue app. The Home app I will really only use if I am updating a scene. It is just a more convenient list in the Hue app to do most basic things.

The only automation I use is for the porch light. I have it setup to turn on at sunset and off at about 2am. For this I use the Home app over the default Hue app.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

I control my lights any number of ways depending on my mood lol. There are the Hue tap/wall switches that I have now setup through HomeKit to provide a bit more functionality with scenes. I also have 3 motion sensors setup in the kitchen, bathroom, and backdoor.

For voice control I have a couple of Echo's that I primarily use. But depending if I want to set a specific scene or am in a room without an Echo I will summon Siri on my phone. I would venture to say 85% of my voice commands are through the Echo though.

When changing things on the phone it really depends on what I am trying to do. If I need to adjust the color or brightness of a specific room I have found it is easiest to just go through the Hue app. The Home app I will really only use if I am updating a scene. It is just a more convenient list in the Hue app to do most basic things.

The only automation I use is for the porch light. I have it setup to turn on at sunset and off at about 2am. For this I use the Home app over the default Hue app.

Echo is how I want to primarily control (well that and automation), but so far it's been really frustrating because she keeps saying "there are multiple devices with that name which device do you want" and then I repeat what I said and then she (usually) acts correctly. Have you run into any problems with Alexa? Do you use the Hue skill?

 

[bbednarz57]

Echo is how I want to primarily control (well that and automation), but so far it's been really frustrating because she keeps saying "there are multiple devices with that name which device do you want" and then I repeat what I said and then she (usually) acts correctly. Have you run into any problems with Alexa? Do you use the Hue skill?

Are there multiple rooms with similar names? I think I had that issue initially but I solved it by changing the names a bit. Alexa is usually very reliable for me, very rarely will I need to repeat what I say for her to understand the command.

Are you just asking her to turn the lights on and off or are you trying to change brightness/color?

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Are there multiple rooms with similar names? I think I had that issue initially but I solved it by changing the names a bit. Alexa is usually very reliable for me, very rarely will I need to repeat what I say for her to understand the command.

Are you just asking her to turn the lights on and off or are you trying to change brightness/color?

No I only have two rooms set up. Living room. And Bedroom. Does the same for individual devices too (such as “my side of the bed” which is obviously unique). What I’ve done as a bit of a workaround at the moment is create a group called “den” for my living room and “master bedroom” for my bedroom. She understands those as unique identifiers, but a) I don’t really like those names and b) I still can’t control individual devices without her asking me to repeat it.

I assume it has to do with the fact that Alexa synced over all the default scenes from Hue. I went through and disabled all of them in the Alexa app (which is way more arduous than it needs to be...) but that didn’t seem to work and then all of the scenes got resynced again anyway :-/