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What are the best apps for controlling and automating Philips Hue lights on Macs?

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6 Options Considered

6 Options ConsideredPriceLast Updated
Circadian Hue for Philips Hue
Jun 17, 2017
Hue-topia
Jun 17, 2017
Colors for Hue
Jun 16, 2017
Meet Hue
Jun 26, 2017
Official Phillips Hue Developer API
Jun 17, 2017
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Circadian Hue for Philips Hue

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adamlogan
Top Pro

It's hard to argue with Free

•••
adamlogan
Top Con

Computer must be on and not sleeping

•••
This application doesn't do any scheduling, it makes live adjustments over the network throughout the day. So for it to work your computer should ideally be on, connected to the network the Phillips Hue is on, and not sleeping at all times.

Hue-topia

adamlogan
Belle
Top Pro

Security feature - can trigger a preset if a sound occurs that is louder than a user defined threshold

•••
With listening mode enabled, this app can trigger a preset, then revert to the prior mode after a specified amount of time has elapsed. This was intended to be a security feature. The idea is if someone broke into your house or something and they approached your computer or wherever your microphone...
adamlogan
Top Pro

Dawn and Dusk simulation features

•••
It can be set to a user chosen time or use your geological location.
adamlogan
Top Pro

A free trial is available

•••
The trial is 30 days, the software is not limited in any way AFAIK. A nag screen pops up whenever launching the app.
Laura Kyle
adamlogan
Top Pro

Has some keyboard shortcuts / hot keys

•••
You can assign function keys 1-8 to trigger presets. You can also turn all lights off (but not on, however you can get around that with the presets + fn keys) and a few other misc keyboard shortcuts.
Belle
adamlogan
Top Pro

Can re-order lights groups etc.

•••
More features include hiding individual lights (see only groups).
Belle
adamlogan
Top Pro

Can create and alter schedules

•••
Basic handling of repeating events daily, weekly, etc.
adamlogan
Top Con

Dawn/Dusk simulation is just white light brightening/darkening.

•••
Other dawn/dusk simulators change color in addition to brightness which more accurately simulates dawn/dusk. There are no options to pick color sequences for dawn or dusk. The options available is the duration of the dawn/dusk routine, what time the routine should start, and there is a toggle to...
adamlogan
Top Con

Expensive for what you get

•••
This app should be more polished at $15
Alex
adamlogan
Top Con

Standard application - menu bar does not persist

•••
This means the application must be open (in the dock) for the menubar to exist. If you close the application from the dock or Quit by shortcut Command + Q etc, the menubar and FN key shortcuts disappear AFAIK. Scheduled items should theoretically still work. Will contact devs and do some more test...
Laura Kyle
adamlogan
Top Con

Color picking not as responsive or friendly to use

•••
Color picking in Hue-topia is not as user-friendly as other offerings. You can't click and drag your eyedropper. Wherever you click, that is the spot sample of color that is sampled. The same applies for using the MacOS built-in color pickers. Sliders don't slide smoothly, they can only j...
See 8 more Pros & ConsSee 8 more Pros & Cons

Colors for Hue

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Ryan
Alex
Top Pro

You can group several lightbulbs together

•••
A handy feature that is missing from the official Philips app is the ability to group several lightbulbs together. This way you can adjust the color and brightness of several lights at once.
adamlogan
Top Pro

More uniform colors

•••
If you want uniform colors among several bulbs of different generations, Colors for Hue does a great job of making them look similar. For some reason other apps don't do this as well as Color for Hue.
adamlogan
Top Pro

Lights are very responsive to this app

•••
Changing colors or brightness is nearly lag free.
Alex
Top Pro

Easy to set up

•••
Launching the app and pressing the button on your Hue is all it takes to connect them.
Alex
Top Pro

Schedule to turn off

•••
You can set a timer that will turn lights off automatically.
adamlogan
Alex
Top Pro

Free - nag free donations possible

•••
Using this app is completely free. Donation/tips are in the preferences if you'd like to support the developers. There are no nag screens or anything.
adamlogan
Top Con

No keyboard shortcuts

•••
The application has no keyboard shortcuts making it difficult to script or schedule lights using the Mac as a server. This app is best used with a mouse.
adamlogan
Top Con

Toggle all lights on or off gets stuck or reversed sometimes

•••
The first option in the menu is a toggle between Turn all lights on/off. Sometimes Colors for Hue doesn't detect that the lights are off, so you see the option to turn them off, but not to turn them on. Refreshing doesn't resolve the problem. It a simple matter to use the brightness slider...
adamlogan
Top Con

No dawn or dusk simulation options

•••
See 7 more Pros & ConsSee 7 more Pros & Cons

Meet Hue

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Von Ray Villahermosa
Top Pro

Bridge is capable of controlling 50 light bulbs

•••
A bridge can support up to 50 light bulbs, so you are pretty much able to control every light in the house unless your house is as big as the White House.
Laura Kyle
Von Ray Villahermosa
Top Pro

The scene is fully customizable

•••
The app allows you to set the color and light intensity to attain your desired mood.
Ryan
Von Ray Villahermosa
Top Pro

17 beautiful preloaded scenes to choose from

•••
Not only can you choose from 17 preloaded scenes, these scenes accurately and beautifully displays the intended mood as well.
adamlogan
Top Pro

No need to host own server

•••
If the Meet Hue cloud service presets and scheduling capabilities meet your needs, you can avoid the need to have your own server.
adamlogan
Top Con

Requires a working internet connection.

•••
This approach would not work if your internet service provider had an outage. Apps that communicate directly with the bridge would be fine so long as the local network is up, even if the broader internet was down temporarily.
adamlogan
Top Con

"Functionality is only supported with the first generation Hue mobile app"

•••
Some users may get this warning. Not quite sure exactly what it means.
adamlogan
Top Con

Overly basic Dawn/Dusk simulators

•••
Meet Hue app provides one simple preset for dawn and dusk, both just ramp up the brightness to one color with no intermediary colors/brightness like a real dawn or dusk would.
See 5 more Pros & ConsSee 5 more Pros & Cons

Official Phillips Hue Developer API

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3rd Party Phillips Hue APIs

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Seth Petersen
adamlogan
Top Pro

Some command line friendly tools.

•••
Some of the APIs are command line friendly. There was a Bash API on the list. It might be very easy to pick up and use. It could be a fun project to learn how to design an application that uses a ncurses interface.
adamlogan
Top Pro

Flexibility

•••
Make what you want with less sweat equity than starting completely from scratch. The frameworks are there, it's a matter of learning them and building with them.
adamlogan
Top Con

Time investment required

•••
Requires time to learn your way around an API and write anything from a bash script to a full-blown application.
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4 Community Recommendations

adamlogan
Von Ray Villahermosa
Aubrey
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