Hue Apps FAQs

If your app is having trouble reaching Hue lights that you’ve already added to your system, check to ensure they are connected to power (i.e. the traditional wall switch is in the “on” position). If they are still Unreachable, contact the Meethue Support Center.

Home and Away routines are supported by all iOS and Android devices with the latest version of the Hue app and cellular data capabilities.

Yes. With the Hue app, you can create new routines or adjust established routines no matter where you are. To ensure that the Sunrise/sunset routines work properly, you must first set up a Sunrise/sunset routine while at home.

If you have set up Out of home functionality in the Hue app, you can control your lights anywhere in the world with an internet connection. If you have not set up this functionality, you simply need to be within range of your home’s Wi-Fi network.

To set up your Home & Away location for the first time, you must be connected to your home Wi-Fi.

1. Select Routines at the bottom of the app screen.
2. Select Home & Away.
3. Slide the Location aware button from off to on.*

*If you are not connected to your home Wi-Fi, you will receive an error message.

Adding, removing, and rearranging lights in a Room is simple in the Hue app:

1. In the Hue app, tap Settings.
2. Tap Room setup. 
3. Select the Room in which you would like to add or remove lights. The Room details will appear, which lists all the Philips Hue lights available in the home. Those that are checked are assigned to the Room. 
4. Check the lights to assign them to the Room or uncheck them to remove them from the Room. Note that a single light can only be assigned to one Room.

To control your lights while away from home, you’ll need to set up the Home & Away functionality:

1. Select Routines at the bottom of the app screen.
2. Select Home & Away.
3. Turn the Location aware toggle button from off to on.*

Once you have set up Home & Away, you can control your lights anywhere you have a Wi-Fi, 3G, or 4G connection the same way you would as if you were at home. 

If you’re having trouble controlling your lights while away from home, please double check that you are logged into your Hue account and your lights are reachable. 

*You must be connected to your home Wi-Fi for the initial setup. If you are not connected to your home Wi-Fi, you will receive an error message.

Creating a Hue account is the first step to getting started with Hue:

1. In the Hue app, tap Settings.
2. Tap Out of Home Control at the top of the screen.
3. Tap Log in. 
4. Tap Create an account and follow the on-screen instructions.

To set up your account, you must be connected to your home Wi-Fi network.

There are two ways to create a new light scene in the Hue app:

Method 1

1. Tap the New scene button in the upper left-hand corner of the home screen in the app.
2. Tap the Room in which you would like to create a new scene.
3. Tap and drag the icons in the Color Picker to select their color. Use the slider to adjust the brightness.
4. Click Tap to enter name, which allows you to name your new scene. Click Save once you have typed a name to save the name.
5. Tap Save in the upper right-hand corner to save your new scene.

Method 2

1. Tap the Room in which you would like to create the scene.
2. Tap the New scene button.
3. Follow the same instructions as above.

Follow the steps to edit a light scene in the Hue app:

1.  Tap the room for which you would like to edit the scene.
2.  Tap the scene you want to edit
3.  Tap the pencil on the top right of the scene you want to edit and choose edit
4.  Tap and drag the icons in the Color Picker to select their color. Use the slider to adjust the brightness.
5.  Tap Save in the upper right-hand corner to save your new scene.

You can adjust the times at which your Sunrise/sunset routines begin:

1. In the Hue app, select Settings at the bottom right.
2. Select Advanced.
3. Select Sunset & sunrise.
4. Select either Before sunset or After sunrise to offset the times, ranging from 0 minutes to 120 minutes.

You can recover deleted default light scenes in the Hue app by deleting the Room and recreating it: 

To delete the room: 

1. Open the Hue app and tap the More Options icon (three vertical dots) at the top right of the page
2. Tap Room & zones 
3. Tap the Room you wish to delete. 
   
4. Tap the red Delete button at the bottom of the page. 

To recreate the Room and restore its default scenes: 

1. Open the Hue app and tap the More options icon (three vertical dots) at the top right of the page. 
2. Tap Rooms & zones
3. Tap Create at the top of the screen
   
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to create the Room. 
5. Select the Add default scenes checkbox to ensure the default scenes are added to the Room.

There are two ways to set all the lights in a room to one color:

Method 1:

1. In the Hue app, go to your Home dashboard.
2. Press and hold the Room in which you would like to set all the lights to the same color. The Color Picker will appear on the screen.
3. Drag the icon to your desired color on the wheel.

Method 2:

1. Go to your Home dashboard.
2. Select the Room in which you would like to set all the lights to the same color. 
3. Select the Color Picker icon.
4. Drag the light icons on top of each other. A number will appear in the icon showing that both lights are the same color. 
5. Select New scene to save as a light scene.

To change the color or brightness of a single light in a Room, tap on the Room in which the light is located in the Home tab.

Change the light brightness:

1. Make sure the light is on by tapping the button to the right of the light name.
2. A slider will appear under the light name when turned on. Drag the slider to adjust the brightness of the light. 

Change the light color:*

1. Tap the individual light to open the Color Picker.
2. Tap and drag the light icon to the color you'd like. Your most recently used colors appear in the top left.
3. Tap Done in the top right corner of the app screen.

*Only with Hue White and color ambiance bulbs.

You can create a customized light scene based on a photo from your phone in the Hue app: 

1. Open the Hue app and select the New scene button at the top left of the app screen.
2. Select the Room in which you would like to create the scene.
3. Tap the Camera icon at the bottom of the screen, then select Camera roll.
4. Choose the photo you’d like to use for your scene and follow the on-screen instructions to crop and change the name. 
5. The Hue app automatically chooses colors from the photo and places them into a custom Color Picker from which you can create a light scene.

The Sunset/Sunrise feature uses the time of day to trigger your custom routine. You can program your lights to turn on at a certain brightness, color, or light scene when the sun sets or rises, and then turn back off after a set amount of time (or not at all). The Hue app automatically adjusts according to the sunset and sunrise times throughout the year. The Sunset/sunrise routines can be accessed by selecting Routines in the app's home screen:

1. Select Other routines.
2. Select Create custom routine.
3. Select Sunset or Sunrise to program your custom routine.

Zigbee is a wireless technology that allows your smart home devices to “talk” to each other. If you are having connectivity issues between your Hue lights and Bridge, a Zigbee channel change may solve the problem. 

1. Open Settings in the Philips Hue app.
2. Tap Hue Bridges and select your active Bridge.
3. Tap the “i” icon to the right of the Bridge name. 
4. Select Zigbee channel change and follow the on-screen instructions.

You can find your routines and timers from third-party apps within the Philips Hue app in Routines > From other apps. While there is no way to rename third-party routines in the Philips Hue app, you can rename alarms and timers in their own apps.

No. An individual light can only be assigned to one Room. What you can do is create zones. Then you can assign one light to multiple Zones. 

Yes. Simply download the Philips Hue app on each device and connect it to the Hue Bridge that you want to control. Each Hue system can be controlled by up to 10 devices.

You can delete a smart device from your Philips Hue system via your Hue account. To revoke permissions from a smart device, go to www.philips-hue.com, click My Hue, and then log in to your account. Once you are logged in, click Apps at the top of the page. This will display the devices that are currently connected to your Hue system. From there, you can click the Deactivate button to remove the device.

To set up an Entertainment area, go to Settings > Entertainment areas > Create entertainment area. Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your Entertainment area, tapping icon for each light and dragging it to its approximate location within the room. 

 You can rearrange your lights within the Entertainment area’s settings in the Hue app at any time. You don’t need to use all lamps in the Room in which your Entertainment area is located.

Hue Sync works with content-streaming devices as long as the content is duplicated from a Windows PC or Mac computer on which the Hue Sync app is running or if the device acts as an extended screen of this computer.

To run Hue Sync successfully, you will need:

• Hue Bridge v2 (square-shaped)*
• The latest Philips Hue app**
• The latest Hue Sync app***
• One or more Philips Hue White and color ambiance light(s)

* Hue Sync will not function on Hue Bridge v1 as it requires higher processing speed and capacity.

** To check if you have the latest version of the Hue app, go to Settings to see if “Hue Entertainment” is listed. If it is not, update your app.

*** The Hue Sync app is compatible with Windows 10 and MacOS Sierra/High Sierra and up. This application cannot be used on a mobile device.

Before you can start streaming and syncing your lights, you must first create an Entertainment area in the Philips Hue app. Once you have created an Entertainment area, download and link the Hue Sync app to your Bridge.