Thanks for the info. I ended up ordering the full kit from Amazon, realizing that even if I paid $40 for the upgraded Bridge sometime in November when it became available, I'm still getting a deal on the packaged lights (which retail at $60 each, and the kit comes with three).
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Philips Announces New Hue Bulbs, Hue Bridge 2.0 With HomeKit Compatibility
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You can. Create a scene, name it kitchen and then add the lights you want to that scene.
Just some FYI ...
Siri/HomeKit doesn't support as many lights as the Hue app in a scene. So if you have a lot of bulbs (I have around 20 including Lux and lightstrips), it doesn't work with those scenes (export failed) and Siri complains.
The setup process is pretty terrible too. To transfer bridges, you have to upgrade the new bridge's firmware, factory reset the new bridge, allow it to transfer, factory reset the old bridge and then to enable HomeKit you have to take a picture of the HomeKit code on the new bridge.
Also, if you purchase the new bridge in a "starter" kit with new bulbs, you have to manually enter the serial numbers for those bulbs in the Hue app to find them. They don't come in the right mode out of the box.
Via siri or manually? Manually, just tap the scene and then OFF on the left side of the bar.
Though Siri. Unfortunately saying "turn ______ scene off" doesn't work. I was able to create a new scene where the specific lights are set to off. If you name the scene "off" siri gets confused and asks to turn off all lights. Instead, I named it something like "dark living room" so I can say "set dark living room" when I want those lights off. Hope this helps. Let me know if anyone finds an easier way around this.
You don't set the scene off. You set the scene how you want, color, brightness, etc. and save it. You only need to tell Siri "turn scenename off". However, scenes are not working for me. She doesn't understand or I don't understand the correct way to phrase it. I think sometimes she does get it but can't find that scene even though it's there.
`1
@AbSoluTc, assuming you already did this, but you have to go into settings --> siri voice control --> and enable individual scenes to work.
How are you able to turn scenes off? What do you say? When I say "turn ____ scene off", it gets confused.
@AbSoluTc, assuming you already did this, but you have to go into settings --> siri voice control --> and enable individual scenes to work.
I would like to know as well. I do have my scenes activated for Siri but can't get the scenes themselves on or off. I can "set" scenes but nothing else with them.
I can't get scenes to work either. Here's my short review of what works and what doesn't for me:
http://www.adamyale.com/2015/10/06/...t-with-siri-and-philips-hue-bridge-2-0-day-1/
http://www.adamyale.com/2015/10/06/...t-with-siri-and-philips-hue-bridge-2-0-day-1/
I say "set (scene name)" and it works fine... although it tells me it is having trouble when it actually isn't
I downloaded Insteon+ for free. It's a HomeKit app. I was able to create rooms (bedroom, kitchen, etc) and zones (basement/downstairs/upstairs) and group the lights. After that I was able to instruct Siri with zone and room names. I've only had Insteon+ for about an hour so I can't comment on it too much other than it seems to work.
The hue app is just horrible. It really hasn't gotten better over the years and it's just unbelievable that it doesn't support the concept of rooms and zones. Their product team seems to think their lighting system is a gimmick limited to one or two bulbs in a room. If they expect their app to control a house with 8 rooms and 20+ bulbs, they really need to think about what they are doing.
I was looking into that app and never tried it because homekit wasn't out for hue. I gave it a go and I like how it's setup. There are a few problems I am running into with this stuff.
1 - If you name something Bedroom, you can't use that name anywhere else. It won't allow it because of Siri.
2 - I got it to turn off/on my "Bedrooms" lights once. I changed the name to "Bedroom Lights" and it said it couldn't find it.
3 - I can change the "Bedroom Lights" to blue but it won't turn them off. Could not get response from device error.
4 - Insteon + app, you can't turn a scene on or off. It only gives you individual devices, not grouped as one to turn on and off. You can't dim them either as a group.
Nice app but both have some big flaws. All very strange and confusing. First day of release so hopefully they fix it up.
I think Siri requires unique names so if you have a bulb or scene named bedroom you can't also create a room called bedroom. I was able to make a room called bedroom and command Siri to "turn bedroom lights off"
I'll have to do some more testing and see if I can figure it out.
So if you have 20 different lights and you cant have any of them named the same as a scene, what would be the best way to name these things so they make sense to remember.
I guess you can name them anything but scene names - bedroom, den, kitchen.
For instance, I have 4 in my bedroom.
- Bedside Lamp 1
- Bedside Lamp 2
- Dresser
- End Table
- Den Lamp 1
- Den Lamp 2
Can't seem to find any in depth discussion to troubleshoot problems and I suppose this thread is as good as any to try and get someone to help me troubleshoot.
I have talked to Apple Support, and spoke to a Apple iOS Senior Advisor. While he wanted to help, he just didn't have the technical knowledge about how HomeKit functions. I think I have isolated a specific problem, which I am hoping someone else can confirm. If you have multiple devices logged into the same iCloud account, with Keychain turned on, they are supposed to sync. But if you add a new HomeKit device while one of the devices is not on the same Wifi, then it seems that this device gets permanently left out of the loop. No matter what you do -- reseting, turning Keychain off and on again -- it never gets the device. Further, it seems that it won't get any additional changes from that point forward. It is forever out of sync, though it can control devices that has already synced prior to the glitch. Is this anyone else's experience?
I have talked to Apple Support, and spoke to a Apple iOS Senior Advisor. While he wanted to help, he just didn't have the technical knowledge about how HomeKit functions. I think I have isolated a specific problem, which I am hoping someone else can confirm. If you have multiple devices logged into the same iCloud account, with Keychain turned on, they are supposed to sync. But if you add a new HomeKit device while one of the devices is not on the same Wifi, then it seems that this device gets permanently left out of the loop. No matter what you do -- reseting, turning Keychain off and on again -- it never gets the device. Further, it seems that it won't get any additional changes from that point forward. It is forever out of sync, though it can control devices that has already synced prior to the glitch. Is this anyone else's experience?
Has anyone seen them on the Apple Store website? I've got some gift cards to use up, but I just see the round version available.
Not looking good for the UK - I mailed John Lewis customer service asking when they'd be stocking them, as they are usually very good at providing information and got the following response -
"... I do not have any information on when we will be stocking this item. I would advise that you keep an eye on our website in the coming months as we may be stocking this by then."
Although it may sound like it, this isn't a stock response and suggests they genuinely don't know when they will get them.
Has anyone asked Philips directly on Facebook or Twitter?
"... I do not have any information on when we will be stocking this item. I would advise that you keep an eye on our website in the coming months as we may be stocking this by then."
Although it may sound like it, this isn't a stock response and suggests they genuinely don't know when they will get them.
Has anyone asked Philips directly on Facebook or Twitter?
Home kit has the potential to change the way we live our lives and take us into the realm of science fiction. Unfortunately they have provided the software but not the hardware to match and so all it ends up being is a fragmented mess of hardware from different companies, multiple apps from different companies, not compatible with one another, and too expensive. Its likely the worst execution of the best idea that Apple has done in years. Generally when they have a failure its because the idea sucks, in this case the idea was awesome and they just did a terrible job. Unfortunately they don't seem to have a desire to make this type of hardware to go a long with it
What exactly happens? I can help as my iPad was at work when I setup the new home kit last night. So I can test something if you need it.
What happens in my case is that the device that was not on the same Wi-Fi does not have the newly added accessories. It never gets them either. Then, you may experience some scary moments where you open up HomeKit on your main phone, and it says there's no home available. In those instances, you can even go into Settings, and it confirms that there is no Home. But if you restart your phone, that seems to do the trick for the most part. I think that there's basically a perpetual sync and consistency in keychain, that keeps trying to resolve itself.
And curious whether I'm only experiencing this because my ecosystem includes two iPhones and an iPad on the same iCloud ID (mine, my wife's, and my iPad). I wonder if this is a specific set up they did not contemplate for some reason. Because at least so far I have only ever had problems with my wife's iPhone 6 becoming out of sync. But my iPad has always been on the same network.