Philips Hue Lights Getting Deep Spotify Integration

[twistedpixel8]

That’s not true at all. I have Hue lighting in two bedrooms, two hallways and my lounge, and my total spend was under $600. I don’t have it syncing to music or any of that nonsense, but I didn’t spend Bezos $$$. It’s amazing how much you can light a room by carefully placing a few of these - my bedrooms inexplicably lack ceiling lighting, so I started with just a Hue bulb in an existing floor lamp and built from there.

All my lights are connected to HomeKit, but doing very rudimentary stuff - certain lights come on at sunset and go off at a set time. I haven’t delved into how much control it has over the lights, but provided Hue exposes HomeKit-compatible, low latency endpoints to change colour and brightness, it could happen. They seem to be on a roll with software updates lately with so here’s hoping.

With HomeBridge I’ve got them tied to my PLEX server. If I start a movie in the living room, it automatically dims the lights and when I pause or stop the movie it returns them to normal. Each event happens instantly. It’s such a simple thing but I love it. HomeBridge opens up so much more flexibility with HomeKit, you should take a look if you’re investing heavily in HomeKit.

But I absolutely agree that well placed lights can transform a room. I’ve never liked the stark ceiling lighting you get in modern houses (like mine). I much prefer softer, ambient lighting and I’ve completely changed the entire atmosphere of my living room with just a few color bulbs and spotlights. I’ve spent hours on different scenes getting the ambience just right and it gives me lots of flexibility. Never gets boring!

 

[threluja]

Doesn’t Hue Sync do this already? will be interesting to see how Spotify differs.

 

[macsound1]

That’s not true at all. I have Hue lighting in two bedrooms, two hallways and my lounge, and my total spend was under $600. I don’t have it syncing to music or any of that nonsense, but I didn’t spend Bezos $$$. It’s amazing how much you can light a room by carefully placing a few of these - my bedrooms inexplicably lack ceiling lighting, so I started with just a Hue bulb in an existing floor lamp and built from there.

All my lights are connected to HomeKit, but doing very rudimentary stuff - certain lights come on at sunset and go off at a set time. I haven’t delved into how much control it has over the lights, but provided Hue exposes HomeKit-compatible, low latency endpoints to change colour and brightness, it could happen. They seem to be on a roll with software updates lately with so here’s hoping.

Lightbulbs for 3 rooms cost you $600?!
I work in the Bay Area and I know everything is expensive here, but if I came home with $600 of lightbulbs, my GF would kill me. Heck, I'd bail at checkout if I bought over $200 of anything less than a Mac.

 

[TravelsInBlue]

Lol people complaining about prices in the forum of a company that charges $999 for a monitor stand, $499 for basic headphones and $399 for a basic smart speaker.

Had no idea this feature was coming so definitely looking forward to trying it out. Tried it this morning but like others, hadn’t had the option appear yet despite updating my app. I’ll check back each evening.

 

[netdudeuk]

Doesn’t have to be. Buy the Hue bridge and then buy IKEA’s Tradfri bulbs. They pair with the bridge (a little fiddly at first but you get the hang of it) and can be used with HomeKit via a HomeBridge setup, all of which isn’t very costly. HomeBridge can be tricky for some to set up but I believe you can now buy a pre-made setup for it.

I'm pleased that I read this. I've just been looking at Tradfri bulbs. I've seen that they can be paired with the Hue hub (which I already have) but didn't see any mention of the need for HomeBridge.

 

[Rico-Suave]

Now if I can just get my HUE lamps to be not fall off my wireless network 90% of the time this would be awesome.

 

[PlasmStudios]

Doesn’t have to be. Buy the Hue bridge and then buy IKEA’s Tradfri bulbs. They pair with the bridge (a little fiddly at first but you get the hang of it) and can be used with HomeKit via a HomeBridge setup, all of which isn’t very costly. HomeBridge can be tricky for some to set up but I believe you can now buy a pre-made setup for it.

I have a few native Hue lights but mostly they are IKEA and other brands. All integrated with HomeKit and most rooms have enough lights to do scenes properly. Did not cost me a fortune. In the UK anyway, IKEA’s color bulbs are £15 for a GU10 345lm or Edison/bayonet 806lm. The white gradient ones are cheaper at around £6.

You don’t necessarily need color everywhere. I’ve discovered that the color GU10 are great for use as Spotlights against a wall but ultimately quite pointless as in-ceiling down lights. Similarly there’s not a whole lot of point doing color in your bathroom as it ends up feeling weird. Color ones should be used to cast color against and up walls. Perhaps in pendant lights too but that’s up to yourself. I have color ones in my pendants but I usually keep them a shade of white except for specific scenes where I want the room filled with color - scenes I have only really ever used to show people how it works because it’s not practical to be in a room so saturated with color for very long.

But that's... that's not a Hue setup. That's an Ikea setup (with no RGBIC) with workarounds that required a HOOBS (+$200) or Raspberry PI (+$100) and sparse opensource support via plugins that can make or break with a update on any end (Apple, Manufacturer, Plugin).

That’s not true at all. I have Hue lighting in two bedrooms, two hallways and my lounge, and my total spend was under $600. I don’t have it syncing to music or any of that nonsense, but I didn’t spend Bezos $$$. It’s amazing how much you can light a room by carefully placing a few of these - my bedrooms inexplicably lack ceiling lighting, so I started with just a Hue bulb in an existing floor lamp and built from there.

All my lights are connected to HomeKit, but doing very rudimentary stuff - certain lights come on at sunset and go off at a set time. I haven’t delved into how much control it has over the lights, but provided Hue exposes HomeKit-compatible, low latency endpoints to change colour and brightness, it could happen. They seem to be on a roll with software updates lately with so here’s hoping.

And I have 6 rooms (6 bulbs) and 4 LED strips (2 in study and 2 in living) covering my entire house with Nanoleaf Essentials for ~$250. That's less than half the cost you mentioned (~40%), covering more rooms, and all based on Thread (supported under Matter) which doesn't lock me into the Hue ecosystem, has 24/7 uptime and instant responsiveness.

 

[PlasmStudios]

Lol people complaining about prices in the forum of a company that charges $999 for a monitor stand, $499 for basic headphones and $399 for a basic smart speaker.

Had no idea this feature was coming so definitely looking forward to trying it out. Tried it this morning but like others, hadn’t had the option appear yet despite updating my app. I’ll check back each evening.

Lol you're comparing the value proposition of a light bulb so that of computers that are arguebly a lot more useful and something that you use to earn money (not spend it). I also find it hilarious that you think the $499 Airpods Max are a "basic" headphones. What do your "premium" headphones do? Fly? Cook you breakfast? Cure Cancer?

 

[twistedpixel8]

I'm pleased that I read this. I've just been looking at Tradfri bulbs. I've seen that they can be paired with the Hue hub (which I already have) but didn't see any mention of the need for HomeBridge.

So basically in order for Hue to expose third-party bulbs to HomeKit, you need HomeBridge. It’s a restriction Apple imposes that only bulbs that can be firmware updated by their hub, are allowed to join HomeKit. So yes it’s sort of a cheeky workaround that exposes them instead as an unauthorized accessory. The only downside is that you can’t update the firmware of Tradfri bulbs - but this has literally never been an issue for me. It’s not like they get new features! And you can always pair it to the Tradfri Gateway if you really want first so you can update the firmware. I used to do this but now I don’t bother. I’ve had several bulbs now with factory firmware and everything works just fine. They likely come with the latest firmware now anyway.

Also if you don’t care about HomeKit, the Tradfri bulbs will work just fine in the Hue app with no restrictions.

Hue bulbs are just LED bulbs with a Zigbee controller and so are Tradfri. Hue are only expensive because marketing. They’re otherwise identical - even in terms of light output because they are all made in China with the same core components.

 

[TravelsInBlue]

Lol you're comparing the value proposition of a light bulb so that of computers that are arguebly a lot more useful and something that you use to earn money (not spend it). I also find it hilarious that you think the $499 Airpods Max are a "basic" headphones. What do your "premium" headphones do? Fly? Cook you breakfast? Cure Cancer?

This isn’t the sentiment of my comment at all, but go off.


But I will stand behind the AirPods Max as being a poor offering. That part you got correct.

 

[twistedpixel8]

But that's... that's not a Hue setup. That's an Ikea setup (with no RGBIC) with workarounds that required a HOOBS (+$200) or Raspberry PI (+$100) and sparse opensource support via plugins that can make or break with a update on any end (Apple, Manufacturer, Plugin).

You realize that Hue are just LED bulbs with a Zigbee controller, right? That’s why they have the same lumen outputs. That’s why they’re all compatible with any Zigbee hub. They are the same other than the name so saying it’s an IKEA setup is meaningless. It could be a Burger King setup for all the difference it makes. They are bulbs that change color and work the same.

My setup also allows me to do so many things that a basic Hue setup can’t and it cost me less. Also your HOOBS and Pi pricing are a bit wack. You can buy the current gen Pi for $35. That’s less than one Hue bulb by the way.

You’re right though, there’s no RGBIC light strip offered by IKEA yet. But anyone paying what Hue asks for theirs deserves that hole burnt through their wallet. I’m pretty sure you can actually buy a Zigbee RGBIC light strip from AliExpress for less than half the price of Hue’s.

I’ll admit I did buy a few Hue Play bars because I’m not aware of any alternative. But I got them at ridiculously discounted prices at Curry’s sale. That’s the only reason I bought them.

At the end of the day, I’m not bothered about what brand each of my lights are. They all run through HomeKit and as far as it’s concerned, they are lights!

 

[twistedpixel8]

What do your "premium" headphones do? Fly? Cook you breakfast? Cure Cancer?

No. The difference is that they actually sound like $499 headphones, not $100 headphones sold for 5 times the price.

 

[FaustsHausUK]

But that's... that's not a Hue setup. That's an Ikea setup (with no RGBIC) with workarounds that required a HOOBS (+$200) or Raspberry PI (+$100) and sparse opensource support via plugins that can make or break with a update on any end (Apple, Manufacturer, Plugin).


And I have 6 rooms (6 bulbs) and 4 LED strips (2 in study and 2 in living) covering my entire house with Nanoleaf Essentials for ~$250. That's less than half the cost you mentioned (~40%), covering more rooms, and all based on Thread (supported under Matter) which doesn't lock me into the Hue ecosystem, has 24/7 uptime and instant responsiveness.

Which is great! In both cases, we didn’t spend “Jeff Bezos money” to get there.

 

[twistedpixel8]

You use Spotify just to spite Apple? That’s not how capitalism works. The best service gets my dollars. And given that Apple One comes with so much value Apple Music is a no brainer in my household. Hopefully this feature shows up for non-Spotify users someday.

I have tried AM several times but ultimately I end up returning to Spotify. I hate Spotify as a company but the platform/app - for me - is much better. The smart suggestions, Release Radar, Discover Weekly, daily mixes, etc. are ususlly spot on. AM doesn’t seem to be able to do things like that very well.

One thing that keeps tempting me back in is lossless. But Apple have made it too difficult to use. I have an audiophile level hi-fi setup powered by a Denon amp that has Airplay 2 so lossless would be incredible. And yet I cannot stream AM lossless to it because of some BS DRM crap - nothing to do with bandwidth/latency. I’m forced to use a cable and a DAC over RCA. It’s ridiculous.

Apple used to be king of “it just works” but they’ve lost touch with that principle in my opinion.

Spotify are rumored to be offering lossless but they may charge for it so I’m on the fence. Do I give up the flexibility of playing music wirelessly and go with AM or do I give Spotify more money but keep all the flexibility and smart playlists.

 

[Marshall73]

I have a lot of hue bulbs and think they're great....this feature however, is definitely one I will not be using!
Why would anyone want to flash their living room lights like some bad 80s disco

Exactly, had them setup for this once and it was fun for about 5 minutes, LOL.

 

[ericwn]

who the hell wants this feature lol, these companies are so clueless

Luckily we have you to spill out what features are really missing in their ecosystem.

Yeah after a decade in the market they probably still don’t know what their customers would find interesting. Hence the success.

 

[ericwn]

Now if I can just get my HUE lamps to be not fall off my wireless network 90% of the time this would be awesome.

Hue lights are usually hardwired into the router via Ethernet. The lights themselves don’t use WiFi at all.

 

[netdudeuk]

You realize that Hue are just LED bulbs with a Zigbee controller, right? That’s why they have the same lumen outputs. That’s why they’re all compatible with any Zigbee hub. They are the same other than the name so saying it’s an IKEA setup is meaningless. It could be a Burger King setup for all the difference it makes. They are bulbs that change color and work the same.

The IKEA colour bulbs seem to be advertised as having a limited number of fixed colours when using an IKEA switch and a few more when used with their hub. When paired with the Philips Hue hub and added into HomeKit, do you then have full RGB control over them for an almost infinite set of colours or are you still stuck with the same set of stock colours ?
Thanks.

 

[twistedpixel8]

The IKEA colour bulbs seem to be advertised as having a limited number of fixed colours when using an IKEA switch and a few more when used with their hub. When paired with the Philips Hue hub and added into HomeKit, do you then have full RGB control over them for an almost infinite set of colours or are you still stuck with the same set of stock colours ?
Thanks.

I think the IKEA switch set of colors is just for convenience. They have a full range of RGB when used with the app (or indeed when added to Hue).

However I’ve just discovered that you can’t use IKEA bulbs with the Spotify integration. It seems like Hue has limited what they call “Entertainment Areas” to native Hue lights and the Spotify integration requires you to select which area you want to use. So that’s a major bummer.

 

[twistedpixel8]

So my experience with this integration is that it’s reasonable but not great. It’s difficult to get the “delay” setting correct (that should be automatic and done using the mic on the phone). The reason it’s difficult is that only very clear bass notes actually result in a clear brightness change with most other changes seeming a bit confused/disjointed from the track.

It also heats my iPhone up like crazy (CPU thermal state quickly hits “serious”) and drains battery faster than the Nest app’s video streaming. I lost 15% battery over 1 track. My battery isn’t great but usually lasts most of my work day.

I hope this is going to be improved substantially because to me it doesn’t work much better than the apps that use the mic to analyze music and pulse your lights. I expected more - maybe I expected too much? Either way, in its current state I doubt I’ll use it. It’s a shame because this had the potential to be so cool and perfect for parties.