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Colonel Badger

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 30, 2008
369
49
Anybody else attempting to control a LIFX or other brand (Not Philips) bulb using a Philips Hue dimmer switch, through HomeKit ?

I have two LIFX bulbs over my kitchen Island that i've grouped and am attempting to be switched on/off via the Philips Hue Dimmer switch. I configured it ok, and for approx 1 week all seemed well. Suddenly the switch now fails to switch on or off 80% of the time. It appears that if I open the Home App and switch on/off before hand and then use the switch its ok. But if I just walk put to the switch after some period of the time it normally fails to switch the bulb on.

Opening the Home app and switching on or using the LIFX app to switch on BOTH work perfectly. So it appears to be the dimmer switch that won't work. I have also programed the dimmer buttons to additionally switch on/off a Philips Hue light strip. That works 100% of the time. So it appears the HomeKit control of the LIFX bulbs via the switch is very unreliable.

I have tried

1. Reprogramming the buttons for on / off in HomeKit
2. Rebooting my Apple TV Hub (just in case it has something to do with it)
3. Rebooting the Philips Hue hub
4. Switching power off on the LIFX bulbs and back on to reboot them

None of the above fixes the issue. I don't understand how this all worked for a week and now doesn't. The Bulbs work fine via the Home app on my Phone, They work fine via the LIFX app. But the dimmer switch will just not work anymore.

Anybody else doing this or something similar ?
 
I have configured one of the buttons on my Hue Dimmer Switch to turn on an Elgato Eve Energy smart plug... which turns on the power to the entire lighting fixtures at home. It has worked without issues. Technically, the automation is working through the HomeKit framework, so it is indeed quite strange that you are having that problem.
 
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