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Without a Bridge, you’ll be missing out on key features such as lights coming on or off automatically when you enter or leave your home, smart switches and sensor controls, wake up and sleep routines, custom scenes, syncing your lights with music, video and gaming, and access to third-party apps. One of the coolest ways to light up your home with Philips Hue is using its colored You plug one end into your mains socket and then 1m or 2m strips can be joined together to form a chain as long as 10m. Since we launched in 2006, our articles have been read more than 1 billion times. Technically, you don’t actually need a Philips Hue Bridge – you can just use a Hue Dimmer switch or connect using Bluetooth on the newer bulbs – but you’ll be limited to just a simple dimming light situation, for up to 10 bulbs, and that’s hardly embracing the smart home revolution, is it? Working off kinetic energy – no batteries required – the Tap switch lets you choose your four favorite scenes anywhere, at the touch of a button. There can be a bit of a learning curve compared to the old app (which you can Lighting has advanced dramatically over the last few years, especially with the introduction of LED bulbs, which use way less power, last longer, and cost less to operate in the long run.However, smart lighting takes an even further step forward, and Philips is leading the way with its Hue lineup of smart bulbs. you’ll get a Bridge and four multi-colored lights for $199.99, or if you're in the UK, you can get a pack of three bulbs and a Hue Dummer switch for £169.99 (that bundle is no longer available in the US, but you can get the Dimmer bundled with a single bulb). New to Hue: the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box. At the other end of the spectrum (spectrum, get it?) If it doesn’t find all of your bulbs, you can tap on the “+” icon again and then select “Add serial number” to manually add the bulbs to your setup. Program Features: Standard commission rate is 7% after customer purchase via the affiliate link Special offers and on-site promos throughout the year . Your light bulbs connect to the hub, and the hub connects to your router.This involves a bit more setup than what you might have originally anticipated, but it’s actually very easy to set up Philips Hue lights. Prices start from $69.99 for a kit that comes boxed with the Bridge and two warm-white lightbulbs. You can then access the scene on the “Scenes” page, and turning it on will bring your lights to that exact state.The new Philips Hue app lets you use geofencing to turn off and on your lights when you leave and get home, that way you never have to touch a light switch again.You can also use the Philips Hue app to create a wake-up alarm, which will slowly fade your lights on to simulate a sunrise.Something like this is really nice if you wake up before the sun actually comes up, or your bedroom doesn’t get a whole lot of sunlight anyway.We’ve also covered this in the past with the old Philips Hue app, but the process is similar in the new app. Go to Settings > Hue Bridges > Add Hue Bridge in the Philips Hue app. The app is obviously your best bet (more on that next) but there are physical controllers too.We’ve already mentioned the Hue Dimmer switch, but if you want something smarter then you’ll be looking at the Hue Tap switch $49.99. Right, so you’re all kitted up with the lights – now you just need a way of controlling them. Test the lights are all working via the Philips Hue mobile app. Tap on “Pair bridge” at the bottom.Tap on “My home” at the bottom and give your home a name. Then, tap on the small circular “i” icon to rename the light to whatever you want.Tap in the text box and give the light bulb a new name of your choice.