1. You have to do one bulb at a time. If you plug in multiple bulbs and try to pair them, it won't work. I don't know why.
2. You will need a portable lamp - or some other way to bring the bulb as close as possible to the hub.
3. Open the Hue app, go through the "Add Device" sequence.
   • The app changes regularly and may be different depending on your phone.
   • Get to the screen which says "Searching for lights".
4. With the lamp off, plug in the bulb to the lamp.
5. Turn on the lamp.
6. After the light has come on, you need to rapidly switch it off then on again 6 times.
   • This means 12 switch flicks in total. Off, then on.
7. After flicking the switch 12 times, the bulb should be on.
8. The bulb should start to dim then brighten. It will keep doing this.
   • If it doesn't, switch it off. Then switch it on. Wait a moment, then repeat the rapid toggle.
   • Try doing more than 6 toggles.
9. Bring the bulb as close as possible to the Philips Hue Hub - touching it if possible.
10. After a moment, the bulb should stop pulsing and go to full brightness.
    • If it doesn't stop pulsing, use the app to "Add Device" again.
11. All being well, the app will tell you that it is paired.
    • Continue the set up in the app.
      • Once done, you can switch off the lamp.
    • If it doesn't work, switch off the lamp, have a drink, try again - making sure to read all the instructions thoroughly.
12. Repeat for all other bulbs.

Once done, the Trådfri lights work flawlessly. The colour is good as is their dimming curve. They are very expensive. Personally, I'd go for the ultra-cheap ZigBee lightbulbs from eWeLink.

FAQ

juST use A ligHTswiTch

Our kitchen is big. The lightswitches are far away. Also, I don't want them covered with cake-batter when I'm cooking.

gEt a sMarT LIGhtSWItCh

Most UK homes don't have a neutral wire to the switch. That makes it hard to use smart-switches. The ones which work without neutral don't work with dimmable bulbs.

PRIVaCY AnD secuRItY is iMpORtAnt

Yes it is. ZigBee bulbs don't have a way to "phone home" and are relatively resistant to being hacked.

Sometimes it is easy. Analytics show no one is using this feature? Drop it.

Sometimes it is hard. It's a moderately well used feature, but complicated to get running on a new environment. If you keep it - that's a huge extra cost, for marginal utility. If you drop it - die-hard users will complain.

So we come to Philips Hue. I've long been a fan of these smart lights. They've just released a completely redesigned version of their app. And, over on LinkedIn, the designers and product managers are congratulating each other on a job well done.

But reading the reviews and looking at the social media chatter shows a different story.

One of the app's best features was their Android Widgets. I had a row on my homescreen with buttons for each room. Tap the bedroom - lights go on. Tap it again - lights go off. Perfect!

The new version deleted all the widgets, with no way to recreate them? Why? Because the iPhone app can't have widgets, so no one gets them. I wish I was joking.

Philips Hue

@tweethue

@myotheralt Hi Jon, thanks for reaching out about this. We've decided to discontinue the separate Hue widget to focus on bringing more functionality to Siri Shortcuts as it offers more extensive functionality. Same goes for Android. :)

---

Perhaps this is a tiny kerfuffle? Sure, there are lots of users complaining on Twitter - but perhaps they're a vocal minority?

A check on the app's Google Play store rankings tells a similar story. The app used to have an impressive 4.5★ rating. Now it's barely hovering above 3★.

That's a significant drop considering how many people have installed it. The reviews on iOS are also suffering (although it's not possible for me to sort by date on them.)

Tom Singer

@tomsinger

Replying to @edent@edent I can sort by most recent using my iPhone, they have the same level of praise as Android! pic.x.com/Ko0n1wSsFQ

---

I get it. I truly do. Philips couldn't afford the expense of maintaining an Android and iPhone version of their app, so they rewrote the whole thing in Flutter. That way they only have a single code base to worry about. I daresay that iOS is their biggest user-base, so anything which is too hard for Apple to support gets dropped. From a purely business perspective, I guess it makes sense.

But this is an app used by people who have made a considerable investment buying into the ecosystem. The bulbs are not cheap, and they're installed in people's personal homes - so when the app screws them over, it feels like a slap in the face.

Removing features is an insult to your users. It is an insult to people who have paid good money to you, and who have spend significant time learning how to use your product. When you remove functionality, you're telling your customers that they've wasted their time and you simply don't care.

Programming computers is hard. Keeping people happy is hard. Upgrading systems and retaining compatibility is hard. Removing functionality makes life easy for you - but, guess what? Your job is to work hard to make things easy for your customers.

Previously on my smarthome adventures, I kitted my house out with LIFX Bulbs and some WisQo Switches. I've moved home and none of my bulbs are compatible with the existing sockets!

What else am I going to do except BUY MORE LIGHTBULBS!

As much as I enjoy LIFX, they're bloody expensive. A single GU10 bulb is FIFTY QUID! Our new kitchen has 17 bulbs. Even if bought in bulk, that would cost me £765. Forget that noise!

So, I've gone with the Philips Hue system. The hub was just under £50 on Amazon. The bulbs use Zigbee rather than WiFi - which makes them cheaper and more energy efficient.

But Hue's GU10 bulbs cost about £20 each - that's still quite expensive.

Luckily, Zigbee is an open protocol, and there are loads of manufacturers of compatible bulbs. I found a fourpack of Zigbee GU10 for £40 - a tenner per bulb. A fifth of the price of LIFX. Would they work together? Yup. I don't have anything to rant about. I configured the hub, installed the app, plugged in the bulbs, and - boom! - they were instantly discovered and started working.

There are three very minor niggles.

1. Amazon Alexa went absolutely bananas. Discovering all those bulbs at once prompted her to keep saying "I have discovered a new light bulb. You can use it by saying..." Imagine that close to 20 times.
2. The Innr bulbs don't support firmware updates unless you have the Innr hub. That's probably not a huge problem. Their website says: "so far it has never been necessary to do a firmware update. All Innr lamps have the latest firmware approved and certified by Zigbee Alliance." I guess I'll buy and return a hub if necessary.
3. The dimming curve is slightly uneven. Using the Hue app's manual control, I can fade the lights out gently. When I turn them off, they dim quickly to about 25% brightness and then shut off. Bit weird, but not a dealbreaker.

If you can recommend a cheap supplier of Zigbee lights - or any other Zigbee gadgets - please let me know.