HomeKit What do I need to use Phillips Hue?

[mtngoatjoe]

I'm a total HomeKit newb. Please forgive my ignorance.

I want to get my daughter some Phillips Hue bulbs for her room. We have an Apple TV in the living room.

She will be controlling the bulbs with her iPad.

Do I need to get her the Hue Bridge, or will her iPad work through the Apple TV?

Thanks!

 

[StumpyBloke]

I'm a total HomeKit newb. Please forgive my ignorance.

I want to get my daughter some Phillips Hue bulbs for her room. We have an Apple TV in the living room.

She will be controlling the bulbs with her iPad.

Do I need to get her the Hue Bridge, or will her iPad work through the Apple TV?

Thanks!

You need the hue bridge

 

[ipedro]

I'm a total HomeKit newb. Please forgive my ignorance.

I want to get my daughter some Phillips Hue bulbs for her room. We have an Apple TV in the living room.

She will be controlling the bulbs with her iPad.

Do I need to get her the Hue Bridge, or will her iPad work through the Apple TV?

Thanks!

A Hue starter kit will include the hub and light bulbs. You'll only need one hub for the entire house.

 

[mtngoatjoe]

Thanks guys! I found the bridge, 2 color bulbs, and a light strip at Costco, so that's what I'll go with!

 

[waw74]

the appleTV will act as a HomeKit hub

A HomeKit hub allows acts as a relay, to allow you to control your devices while you're away from home.

Or if there is a HomeKit device that speaks bluetooth, it can talk to that if your phone/ipad is home, but not in bluetooth range.

The current versions of hue software also allow the hue app on iOS to work away from home.


The Hue bridge will need to be plugged into your home network with an ethernet cable, and hopefully somewhat close to your lights.

 

[firewire9000]

Apple TV has to be at least 4th gen.

 

[waw74]

Apple TV has to be at least 4th gen.

3rd gen (the 1080 pre TVos ones) work too, but not for shared users, or cameras
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207057

 

[mtngoatjoe]

Thanks for the help. I bought the Hue Starter Kit, and installation went well. My daughter really like changing the color of the bulb!

She received a lava lamp for her birthday, so I think I'll need to get an outlet to control that as well.