Question 1

How do I create an automation?

Accepted Answer

If you’re adding your first automation:

Open the Automations tab in the Philips Hue app.
Tap the button on the screen to create your first automation.

If your system already has automations:

Open the Automations tab in the Philips Hue app.
Tap the plus icon (+) at the top of the screen.
Select the automation you want to set up and follow the on-screen instructions.

Question 2

How do I delete an automation?

Accepted Answer

In the Automations tab of the Philips Hue app, swipe left on the automation you want to delete and tap the delete icon. Alternatively, you can tap on the automation you want to delete, scroll to the end of that screen, and tap the delete button

Question 3

Can I adjust sunset and sunrise times for my custom automations?

Accepted Answer

The sunset and sunrise times are determined based on your location. However, you can offset the start time of these automations in the app:

Go to Automations tab.
Tap the custom automation you want to edit.
Change the sunrise or sunset time to include the time you want to offset.
Tap save.

Question 4

How do I enable and disable automations?

Accepted Answer

In the Automations tab of the Philips Hue app, use the toggles next to each automation to turn them on or off. Automations with the play button next to them need to be manually triggered by pressing the play button.

Question 5

What devices support Coming home and Leaving home automations?

Accepted Answer

Coming home and Leaving home automations are supported by all iOS and Android devices with the latest version of the Philips Hue app and the appropriate cellular data capabilities. Your experience may be impacted if your device is in low battery or airplane mode.

Question 6

Why do some automations have a play button next to them instead of a toggle switch?

Accepted Answer

Some automations, such as timers, do not start automatically — you have to tap the play button to start them. Once started, you can stop them by tapping the stop button.

Question 7

Can I set up automations in the Philips Hue app when I'm not at home?

Accepted Answer

If you’re signed in to your Hue account in the app, you can control your lights, including creating automations, from anywhere — there’s no limit as to how far you can be!

Question 8

How do I create Coming home and Leaving home automations?

Accepted Answer

In the Philips Hue app, go to the Automations tab.
Tap the plus icon (+) to add a new automation.
Select Coming home or Leaving home.
Follow the on-screen instructions to enable your device to trigger location-based automations.

Only one Coming home and Leaving home automation can be created per Bridge. If you want to change an automation, tap it in the automations list to open its settings. To delete an automation, swipe left on it in the automations list, or tap Delete at the bottom of its settings screen.

Question 9

Can I add multiple devices for the Coming home and Leaving home automations?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can create multi-user Coming home and Leaving home automations by adding multiple devices to the location-enabled devices list. To add another device, open the Philips Hue app and navigate to the Settings tab. Select Location settings and set a Home location on that device.

Question 10

Can I disable devices from triggering Coming home and Leaving home automations?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In the Philips Hue app, go to the Settings tab and tap Location settings. Tap the device you want to delete, and then tap delete. This will not delete your device from the app.

Question 11

How do I create a Wake up automation with the Sunrise wake-up style?

Accepted Answer

In the Philips Hue app, go to the Automations tab.
Tap the plus (+) icon.
Choose Wake up with light.
When asked what style you want, select Sunrise
Tap Save.

If you want to adjust an existing Wake up automation to have the Sunrise style, follow these steps:

In the Philips Hue app, go to the Automations tab.
Select the Wake up automation you want to change.
Choose Sunrise under Style.

Question 12

Why don't my lights start changing at the beginning of the fade duration I set for the Sunrise wake-up style?

Accepted Answer

The Sunrise wake-up style is optimized for gradient lights, which offer an additional effect in the beginning of a Wake up routine set to the Sunrise style. Since non-gradient lights can't produce this effect, they start the automation slightly later.

Question 13

What does the Mimic presence automation do?

Accepted Answer

The Mimic presence automation automatically turns on the lights in selected Rooms to scenes from the Defaults category, and then turns them off after a period of time to make it look like you're home. The lights change at times that would generally be expected for that type of room. To ensure that you get the most realistic simulation that someone is at home, make sure that your Rooms are labeled as the correct type — do this by selecting the icon that most closely matches the room.

Question 14

Should I disable my other automations when Mimic presence is active?

Accepted Answer

You don’t have to! Keep in mind that if you have automations that control lights and/or Rooms that are not in the Mimic presence automation, they won’t be turned off by your Mimic presence automation.

Question 15

When creating the Mimic presence automation, it says it will turn all non-selected lights or Rooms off when starting the Mimic presence automation. What does that mean?

Accepted Answer

When you start the Mimic presence automation, it will turn all the lights that aren’t part of the automation off. If you turn on a light that isn’t in the Mimic presence automation while the automation is running, it’ll remain on until you turn it off.

Question 16

What's the difference between choosing between lights coming on All day and Only when it's dark when I'm setting up the Mimic presence automation?

Accepted Answer

Everyone's home is different. Some houses may have more natural light inside, while others may need the lights on throughout the day as well as when it's dark.

To decide which option you need, look at your normal light usage. If you usually only use your lights when it starts to get dark outside, choose Only when it's dark. If your lights are often on during the day, choose All day.

If you choose Only when it's dark, the actual times are determined based on sunset and sunrise based on your home's location, which you can set up in Settings > Location settings.

Question 17

Can I set up multiple Mimic presence automations?

Accepted Answer

You can only have one Mimic presence automation per Bridge.

Question 18

Is the Mimic presence schedule always the same?

Accepted Answer

The Mimic presence automation uses a random, 15-minute variation each time your lights turn on or off so that the schedule always varies slightly. This helps in making the lights and times it uses more realistic.

Question 19

Can I select Zones in the Mimic presence automation?

Accepted Answer

You can only select Rooms in Mimic presence automations.

Question 20

Will my other automations continue to function normally if they're not part of the Mimic presence automation?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Your other automations will continue to run normally, but the lights selected in those automations might also be controlled by the Mimic presence automation.

Question 21

When my Timer automation ends, my lights change to a different scene, but I sometimes don't notice the lights change. Can I make it do something more obvious when it ends?

Accepted Answer

Yes! When you set up a Timer, you can choose to flash your lights instead of changing them to a different scene:

In the Philips Hue app, go to the Automations tab.
Tap the Timer you want to change.
Tap the Room(s) where you want the lights to blink, and select Flash lights instead of a scene.

Question 22

Can I make lights flash manually?

Accepted Answer

The Flash lights setting can be selected as what happens when a Timer automation ends or as part of a security alarm when you have the Security Center set up.

Automations

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