The Confessions of a HomeKit Addict

I must confess that I have become a bit addicted to homekit devices since they first hit the market earlier this year. My collection now includes Lutron's Cassetta light switches, Elgato's Eve weather room and door, and most recently, I just picked up a Philips Hue smart light bridge. Yes, you read that right - Philips Hue is now homekit compatible! This means that I can finally control my lights with Siri and take my smart home experience to the next level.

As I delved deeper into the world of homekit, I decided to pick up a starter kit from Philips, which includes a compatible bridge, three bulbs, and an $80 Hue light strip. If you already have Hue Lights and want to get in on the homekit action, this is a great option. All you need to do is pick up a new bridge for $40 from Philips' website, starting November 1st. Setting up your lights is relatively straightforward - simply hook them up in whatever room you'd like, download the free Hue app, and connect the hue bridge to power and an Ethernet connection.

If you're already familiar with homekit devices, then you'll know that things can get a bit more complicated when it comes to integrating different products. In my case, I already have a homekit device in my house for one of my products - so I needed this new bridge too! Opening the Hue app and tapping on the button next to your bridge will prompt you to pair it with your homekit code. Once you've completed that step, logging into or creating a Hue account gets you ready to start controlling your lights.

The real fun begins when you can control individual lights and colors using the Lights menu in the Hue app. You can also create Hue-specific scenes from the Scene screen - but let's be honest, the real magic happens when you use Hue Lights with Siri. The problem is that the Hue app isn't very homekit-friendly, which means you can't add your lights to Rooms or set zones or triggers directly. That's where third-party apps come in - Elgato's Eve app offers most of these controls, but my favorite homekit controller by far is the $15 Home App.

With the Home App, you can set lights, color saturation, zones, rooms, and even situational triggers like setting all your lights to Blue once the temperature gets below 50. And let me tell you, there's nothing quite like saying "Simulation complete" after messing with the color of your lights - it's a small pleasure that brings a big smile to my face. If you love Siri and homekit as much as I do, then Hue Lights are an absolute must-have. With one bridge controlling all the Hue Lights you want to add, you'll be able to create the perfect lighting experience with just your voice. So go ahead, treat yourself - after all, Siri will be there for you!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI have a confession to make I've become a bit addicted to homekit devices ever since the first ones hit the market earlier this year I have luton's cassetta light switches elgato's Eve weather room and door and now I just picked up a Phillips Hugh homekit bridge in light set yes the popular multicolored LED lights now have a homekit compatible Bridge which means Siri controlled lights everywhere okay I didn't go quite that out of control I decided to pick up Philips 199 starter home kit set with a compatible bridge and three bulbs along with an $80 hue light strip a decent starter kit I think if you already have Hue Lights and want in on the homekit action you just need to pick up a new bridge for $40 from Phillips's website starting on November 1 to set up your lights hook them up in whatever room you'd like download the free Hue app and hook up the hue bridge to power and an ethernet connection unfortunately if you're like me and already have a home kiub in your house for one of your products yes you're going to need this one too open the Hue app tap the button on your bridge to pair of the two and scan your home kit code when prompted once you're finished with that log in or create a hue account and you're ready to rumble you can control individual lights and colors from the Lights menu or create Hue specific scenes from the scene screen but the real fun is using Hue Lights with Siri the Hue app currently isn't very homekit friendly you can't add your lights to Rooms or set zones or triggers so you'll need a third party app to do most of that elgato's Eve app offers most of these controls but my favorite homekit controller by far is the $15 home app you can set lights color saturation zones rooms and even situational triggers the temperature gets below 50 for example set all the lights to Blue once you've added your Hue Lights to Rooms zones and scenes you can trigger them with a few different commands including uding color my personal favorite however has to be scenes there's nothing more fun than saying simulation complete after messing with the color of your lights if you love Siri and homekit the Hue Lights are a musthave and one bridge controls all the Hue Lights you want to add so if you decide that that couch really needs mood lighting Siri and your credit card will be there for youI have a confession to make I've become a bit addicted to homekit devices ever since the first ones hit the market earlier this year I have luton's cassetta light switches elgato's Eve weather room and door and now I just picked up a Phillips Hugh homekit bridge in light set yes the popular multicolored LED lights now have a homekit compatible Bridge which means Siri controlled lights everywhere okay I didn't go quite that out of control I decided to pick up Philips 199 starter home kit set with a compatible bridge and three bulbs along with an $80 hue light strip a decent starter kit I think if you already have Hue Lights and want in on the homekit action you just need to pick up a new bridge for $40 from Phillips's website starting on November 1 to set up your lights hook them up in whatever room you'd like download the free Hue app and hook up the hue bridge to power and an ethernet connection unfortunately if you're like me and already have a home kiub in your house for one of your products yes you're going to need this one too open the Hue app tap the button on your bridge to pair of the two and scan your home kit code when prompted once you're finished with that log in or create a hue account and you're ready to rumble you can control individual lights and colors from the Lights menu or create Hue specific scenes from the scene screen but the real fun is using Hue Lights with Siri the Hue app currently isn't very homekit friendly you can't add your lights to Rooms or set zones or triggers so you'll need a third party app to do most of that elgato's Eve app offers most of these controls but my favorite homekit controller by far is the $15 home app you can set lights color saturation zones rooms and even situational triggers the temperature gets below 50 for example set all the lights to Blue once you've added your Hue Lights to Rooms zones and scenes you can trigger them with a few different commands including uding color my personal favorite however has to be scenes there's nothing more fun than saying simulation complete after messing with the color of your lights if you love Siri and homekit the Hue Lights are a musthave and one bridge controls all the Hue Lights you want to add so if you decide that that couch really needs mood lighting Siri and your credit card will be there for you\n"