Philips Hue FAQ

The Black Oil

I was away at the weekend, wifi was poor, so I tried data. 'No Hue Connection'. I did a quick search online and it advised logging out of the app and trying again. Of course, I couldn't remember my password. Tried another device when the wifi was less glitchy, that was OK. When I got home, the app on the first device worked fine on good wifi. But it didn't require me to log in again. Why not when I had clearly (I think) logged out of it?

bk

The Black Oil wrote: »

I was away at the weekend, wifi was poor, so I tried data. 'No Hue Connection'. I did a quick search online and it advised logging out of the app and trying again. Of course, I couldn't remember my password. Tried another device when the wifi was less glitchy, that was OK. When I got home, the app on the first device worked fine on good wifi. But it didn't require me to log in again. Why not when I had clearly (I think) logged out of it?

When you are at home and your are connected to your home wifi, the Hue app on your phone "talks" directly to the Hue app and it doesn't need any internet connection.

When you are out of your home and you want to remotely control it, you need to sign into your account and use their cloud services to "talk" to the hub back at your home.

AndyBoBandy

bk wrote: »

When you are at home and your are connected to your home wifi, the Hue app on your phone "talks" directly to the Hue app and it doesn't need any internet connection.

When you are out of your home and you want to remotely control it, you need to sign into your account and use their cloud services to "talk" to the hub back at your home.

excellently put.

supue

Any reason why one of my lights would stop responding to dimming/white colour range adjustments?

I've a white ambiance E27 in a lamp in my living room - I can turn the light on and off no problem, however it won't dim for me any more. On a maybe related note, my routines seems to be off for some of the landing lights - I've noticed in the past few days they didn't seem to be kicking in at the normal time.

illdoit2morrow

I got the starter kit in the recent sale and I'm currently setting up.

I've only one light that takes the bulb type i bought but that can be sorted with an adapter. Got it linked up to my echo which is a bit of a novelty.

I've an android phone and tablet, are most people using the Philips hue app or one of the third party ones?

I downloaded 'hue pro' but got rid of it again because the setting up to work 'away from home' didn't seem to work for me.

irelandrover

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

I got the starter kit in the recent sale and I'm currently setting up.

I've only one light that takes the bulb type i bought but that can be sorted with an adapter. Got it linked up to my echo which is a bit of a novelty.

I've an android phone and tablet, are most people using the Philips hue app or one of the third party ones?

I downloaded 'hue pro' but got rid of it again because the setting up to work 'away from home' didn't seem to work for me.

I use the official Hue app. Since they added the Hue Labs section i find taht it has almost everything that i want to do.

illdoit2morrow

bk wrote: »

When you are at home and your are connected to your home wifi, the Hue app on your phone "talks" directly to the Hue app and it doesn't need any internet connection.

When you are out of your home and you want to remotely control it, you need to sign into your account and use their cloud services to "talk" to the hub back at your home.

What do you mean by 'sign into your account'? via the official app?

I onl got my starter kit today so I've not been away yet, just wondering what the signing in bit is.

TIA

AndyBoBandy

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

What do you mean by 'sign into your account'? via the official app?

I onl got my starter kit today so I've not been away yet, just wondering what the signing in bit is.

TIA

If you want to turn your lights on/off while your in Lanzarote you'll need to set up a free hue account in order to control your system while not on your home (wifi) network

illdoit2morrow

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

If you want to turn your lights on/off while your in Lanzarote you'll need to set up a free hue account in order to control your system while not on your home (wifi) network

That's on the meethue.com site?

I've done that, i'll go for a walk and see what happens down the road.

AndyBoBandy

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

That's on the meethue.com site?

I've done that, i'll go for a walk and see what happens down the road.

Yes, just make sure you sign in on he phone app

wexfordman2

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

That's on the meethue.com site?

I've done that, i'll go for a walk and see what happens down the road.

Or stay where you are and just turn off the wifi on your phone :-)

Mech1

I just installed "Screenbloom" its a program that allows your Hue setup to follow the ambient light colours of your screen.

Working very well sofar, amazing the kids that the lights follow the main colour of what they are drawing with ms paint.

works with anything on your screen, movies games etc.

randombar

Few power cuts in the middle of the night over the weekend, very annoying that all the lights come on after.

AndyBoBandy

GaryCocs wrote: »

Few power cuts in the middle of the night over the weekend, very annoying that all the lights come on after.

This is my worst nightmare, (35 Hue lights in total, including one in the toddlers room), house would light up like a Christmas Tree!! :cool::cool::cool:

Thankfully the only recent power outages were daytime.

roosterman71

So lately I've noticed 2 of my lights in the kitchen are on when I get home. The switch on the wall is on all the time of course for power, and the lights are controlled primarily via a dimmer switch. Now, it's only these 2 lights. I've another Hue light in the bedroom that this doesn't happen on.

I've no routines, nothing in IFTTT, that should trigger them to come on. Anyone any idea cos it's fair annoying now and I've no idea at what time they come on.

matrim

roosterman71 wrote: »

So lately I've noticed 2 of my lights in the kitchen are on when I get home. The switch on the wall is on all the time of course for power, and the lights are controlled primarily via a dimmer switch. Now, it's only these 2 lights. I've another Hue light in the bedroom that this doesn't happen on.

I've no routines, nothing in IFTTT, that should trigger them to come on. Anyone any idea cos it's fair annoying now and I've no idea at what time they come on.

Maybe setup an IFTTT to send you an email when they turn on? At least that way you will know what time it happens at

bk

roosterman71 wrote: »

So lately I've noticed 2 of my lights in the kitchen are on when I get home. The switch on the wall is on all the time of course for power, and the lights are controlled primarily via a dimmer switch. Now, it's only these 2 lights. I've another Hue light in the bedroom that this doesn't happen on.

I've no routines, nothing in IFTTT, that should trigger them to come on. Anyone any idea cos it's fair annoying now and I've no idea at what time they come on.

I found something similar happened.

I think that I once had setup a routine on the third party app, but it was still on the bridge, but couldn't be seen by the offical apps.

I fixed it with the iOS app iConnectHue, which has a setting in it's menu to conduct maintenance on the bridge, including deleting all routines. This seemed to fix it for me.

roosterman71

matrim wrote: »

Maybe setup an IFTTT to send you an email when they turn on? At least that way you will know what time it happens at

Is there a way to do that? I had a look at IFTTT and there is no pre-defined applet I could find, nor is there a way to perform an action if the lights come on. In fact, when you go to create an applet, in the "If" action it is not possible to select Hue at all

bk wrote: »

I found something similar happened.

I think that I once had setup a routine on the third party app, but it was still on the bridge, but couldn't be seen by the offical apps.

I fixed it with the iOS app iConnectHue, which has a setting in it's menu to conduct maintenance on the bridge, including deleting all routines. This seemed to fix it for me.

Is there another way to clean the bridge? I'm on Android myself. I've the OnSwitch app installed but that doesn't have routines or similar functionality on it.

The only things linked to my bridge is the official Hue app, OnSwitch and IFTTT. Are there logs or anything I can look at with event info?

lawred2

roosterman71 wrote: »

Is there a way to do that? I had a look at IFTTT and there is no pre-defined applet I could find, nor is there a way to perform an action if the lights come on. In fact, when you go to create an applet, in the "If" action it is not possible to select Hue at all


Is there another way to clean the bridge? I'm on Android myself. I've the OnSwitch app installed but that doesn't have routines or similar functionality on it.

The only things linked to my bridge is the official Hue app, OnSwitch and IFTTT. Are there logs or anything I can look at with event info?

there's a reset button underneath it

bk

roosterman71 wrote: »

Is there another way to clean the bridge? I'm on Android myself. I've the OnSwitch app installed but that doesn't have routines or similar functionality on it.

I'm afraid I'm all iOS devices. Perhaps you could borrow an iPad or iPhone off family or friend.

lawred2 wrote: »

there's a reset button underneath it

Yes, but that is the Nuclear option, you would have to set everything up again afterwards which can be a pain. The iConnectHue app allows you to reset just individual parts causing problems.

mossie

I use Hue Pro to control my lights and since last night it no longer controls groups. I can switch individual bulbs on and off but not groups. The app says it's turned them on or off but nothing actually happens. Anyone had this problem and how did you solve it?

copacetic

might be using the wrong search terms, so apologies if this has come up a lot, I'm adding hue strips in a few locations in a kitchen, wired for it, but didn't realise that the DC converter came with plug built in to it, I want to just hardwire for a neat install.

What have people done to get around plugging in? replace with a different DC converter? doesn't look like it's possible to take philips one apart.

Shlippery

Hey guys, forgive me if it's answered elsewhere, searched Dimmer and it keeps referencing the hue dimmer switch - what's the story with the old school "dimmer" switches on the wall?

I'm moving into a new place this month (renting)!, and the hope is to kit it out with Phillips hue, however the living room has one of those old school dimmers for a light fixture with 3 bulbs.




How would Hue work out with this? Would I leave the dimmer on at "full brightness"?

There's lamps and other fixtures throughout the house that I can try them on anyways, so all is not lost, but I'd be curious as to the behaviour if any of ye have experienced it!

Cheers!

Black_Knight

Yes. You'd have to forgo your existing dimmer switch abilities and either leave the dimmer on full brightness (and control lights from the app) or replace the dimmer switch with a simple on/off switch and control the lights from the app.

bk

I just covered over my dimmer switch with a child cover and use the Philips hue dimmer stuck on the wall above it.

Perhaps not the prettiest thing in the world, but works fine.

Shlippery

Yea - I don't mind about losing the "dimmer" functionality as such - just wary of ripping out the socket and replacing it with another one in a rented apartment

bk

Shlippery wrote: »

Yea - I don't mind about losing the "dimmer" functionality as such - just wary of ripping out the socket and replacing it with another one in a rented apartment

The Hue dimmer can actually do dimming. You just need to leave the old dimmer turned on all the time. The only issue is that visitors might accidentally use the old switch, so I covered mine over with a child cover from amazon. It isn't permanent, you can remove it again when you leave.

matrim

Considering getting some E14 bulbs for the living room but need six. Has anyone tried osram lightify bulbs with the hue hub? Reports say it works and they are a bit cheaper might be worth it

Keller Bear

Has anyone experienced the GU10 bulbs being to large for their fire rated downlights? Any suggestions or recommend longer units?

I have found these. Besides widening the cut out already there shouldn't be an issue I suppose as I have plenty of depth between the floor above and ceiling.

Any recommendations would be welcome. Thanks

AndyBoBandy

Keller Bear wrote: »

Has anyone experienced the GU10 bulbs being to large for their fire rated downlights? Any suggestions or recommend longer units?

I have found these. Besides widening the cut out already there shouldn't be an issue I suppose as I have plenty of depth between the floor above and ceiling.

Any recommendations would be welcome. Thanks

The ones you have linked will work with the white ambiance hue GU10's, but not the colour ones which are larger

There was a few recent pages of chat on this very subject over here

This is the type you want for colour hue GU10's, these are the ones I have in my kitchen.