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 Hue Bridge Matter Support Update Now Available
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I'd be very surprised if it's anything but second, they seemed to indicate a while back that first generation updates were done iirc.
Does anyone have any strong opinions about hub-based things like this, VS non-hub products like Nanoleaf? Currently I'm using Nanoleaf lights and the idea of a hub seems unappealing to me, but is there any kind of advantage?
Hue app demands I sign in, so I sign in.
Hue app says I don't have admin privileges to look at the security settings. So I don't have admin privileges for a product I bought and own.
Great.
No Matter software/firmware update showing for me.
I check what happens if I remove the Hub from the Home app.
Hue app still sees the lights. But still no firmware update.
I try to add the Hub back to the Home app using the Smart Home wizard.
Hue app says something along the lines of 'Matter unavailable at this time...please go **** yourself and try again later'.
So until I see an update I can no longer control my lights with the Home app.
Noice. This is the future. As always.
Hue app says I don't have admin privileges to look at the security settings. So I don't have admin privileges for a product I bought and own.
Great.
No Matter software/firmware update showing for me.
I check what happens if I remove the Hub from the Home app.
Hue app still sees the lights. But still no firmware update.
I try to add the Hub back to the Home app using the Smart Home wizard.
Hue app says something along the lines of 'Matter unavailable at this time...please go **** yourself and try again later'.
So until I see an update I can no longer control my lights with the Home app.
Noice. This is the future. As always.
Needs to be remained powered. If you hit a light switch on the bulb that has the bridge. You will lose connection
I just tried to redo mine and I got the same message. I even power cycled the bridge to no avail. What I did do was go into the Home app and try to add an accessory. Once I saw that Home found the Philips bridge I canceled and went back into the Hue app and only then was I able to complete the process. Once I readded my lights to the rooms I saw there was an update to my bridge.
Non-Hub products rely on your Wi-Fi connection which can become congested (especially since many smart devices still use the crowded 2.4 GHz spectrum). For the Philips Hue system it relies on Zigbee. Zigbee also operates in 2.4 GHz but it uses a separate channel spectrum than Wi-Fi so it's not competing for bandwidth with your home Wi-Fi network (Wi-Fi uses 2.4 GHz channels 1-13, Zigbee uses channels 11-26).
If you read many user stories you'll hear considerably more frustration with dropped connections with non-hub light systems like Nanoleaf or GE Cync compared to Philips Hue. That doesn't mean those other systems aren't good or won't be reliable most of the time, Hue is just seen as more reliable.
Case example: I have three smart plugs in my house that control lamps that can't be fitted with Philips Hue bulbs. Something recently happened in my router that caused an issue with the 2.4 GHz network and all three outlets went non-responsive, but my Philips Hue lights stayed online. I had to reboot the router to get the plugs back online.
So Automations where kept intact? That´s my biggest concern with switching to Matter
Thanks for sharing this, since we have over 20 HUE items and so many scenes and automations in the Home app, I'll be sure to skip this for now. Perhaps Hue can find a better way to migrate.
I know, it should weigh like a couple pounds at least, then it would be clear that it's doing something..
Wow, thanks for that. I have about 50 lights and was a bit hesitant, but it seems pretty seamless.
I did that too but can't tell if I have the update yet.
The Hue Smart Home wizard wouldn't work.
So I re-paired the Bridge and set up the lights in the Home app.
Now I'm back in the Hue app but can't see an update. I had automatic updated enabled and can't tell if I was updated.
Do I have to wait for a Hue app update in the App Store first?
My Hue app version is 5.0.1 and was updated 6 days ago. My bridge was updated to 1.59.1959194040 (BSB002), this was only AFTER I unlinked and readded to Home. One way to tell is if you go into Smart Home under Settings and click on the + to add a device, select Other and it should say your bridge has been updated to support Matter.
I added the bridge using the Matter code in the Hue app and it showed up as 2 bridges in the Home app, so all the automations were in tact. However, I then had 2 instances of each accessory. Removing the HomeKit instance of the Hue bridge removed the duplicates. I then had to add my Hue accessories to the automations I had. The responsiveness does seem a little bit faster, but I don't have any data to back that up. One thing to note, apparently the adaptive color based on the time of day is not supported with Matter. I used to have my lights use the adaptive lighting instead of picking a color.
Here's a great article that I used to guide me:
hueblog.com
Here's a great article that I used to guide me:
Matter support for Philips Hue is here - Hueblog.com
Actually, it was supposed to be ready in spring, in the end we had to be patient a bit longer. But now it is here: Matter support for Philips Hue. As of now, it can be activated in the settings of the Hue app – but there are some details to keep in mind. The…
hueblog.com
The promise is seamless integration across all home-control ecosystems. The only thing that is really keeping this back is that manufacturers are being slow to support Matter and Thread. Many are staying with WiFi because more potential customers already have WiFi in their home. Thread does not use the WiFi network and is MUCH more robust. Same for the Zigbee network that Hue uses.
It is reasonable to have 100+ Thread/Matter devices in a home but just try to keep 100+ WiFi devices all on-line at once.
But for a person buying 4 light bulbs, WiFi is simpler and uses the router he already has.
(Thread is a wireless network, Matter is the way the data is organized and sent over a network. Mater can work over WiFi or Thread.)
Thought moving to matter meant getting rid of all this crap, I.e. devices talking direct?
No success for me. This Hue app is dumber than a deaf and blind donkey.
The app says my software and firmware is up to date. My app is the same version as yours but my Bridge is still on an older version. So it isn't up to date. The message is wrong.
BUT THEN the app says Matter is available and tells me to unlink from Home first. So I click the unlink button and then the stupid ****ing app tells me Matter isn't available yet try later.
LMAO.
This is why I tell tech optimists and smart city enthusiasts to get ****ing real. Software is frequently broken and buggy and NOBODY knows why it happens. It's all random.
To be honest I'm not sure. My Ikea bulbs did work before when connected to the Hue bridge via Zigbee but only on the Hue app. the Matter update enabled them to work with HomeKit too.
If your Govee lights do that then they should work too
I was testing it out during the beta, if
you link via Matter, you’ll lose the “Adaptive Lighting” feature from HomeKit
you link via Matter, you’ll lose the “Adaptive Lighting” feature from HomeKit
A beta version is never the same as the final product, as it is not polished. I would prefer getting feedback from people who tried the final version. Nothing personal, thank you for sharing for sure !!
It is insane. buried in menus, couldn't find it. then went to siri integration, and clicked on it and then clicked on a small menu item on the unlink button.
I have 50+ lights and accessories. the light names disappeared and each of them i had to add one by one. every light you have to choose the room, automations etc. at least 3 presses and multiple scrolls.
and i don't even know which light is which. many of them named like hue bar 10 11 etc. all the names i have renamed disappeared and reset to default
after i did all of them and the switches and buttons and what not this came while i was adding lights:
Then some other errors when i retried. I didn't cancel it but it throw an error saying i canceled it.
I think what they rolled out is far from being mature. i don't advise anyone to do matter upgrade before these guys fix their software.
I have 50+ lights and accessories. the light names disappeared and each of them i had to add one by one. every light you have to choose the room, automations etc. at least 3 presses and multiple scrolls.
and i don't even know which light is which. many of them named like hue bar 10 11 etc. all the names i have renamed disappeared and reset to default
after i did all of them and the switches and buttons and what not this came while i was adding lights:
Then some other errors when i retried. I didn't cancel it but it throw an error saying i canceled it.
I think what they rolled out is far from being mature. i don't advise anyone to do matter upgrade before these guys fix their software.