You may come to master and corral the vibes of your apartment so that the press of one button can give your living room into a three-Michelin-star dining room lighting. If you use the Philips Hue, maybe you’ll have like 5% more sex and it’ll be in different colors or, it might help you take better naps. Yeah, my phone controls some of my light bulbs, and yes, I highly recommend it. If you thought this article would end with me creating some sort of smart home apartment utopia where my phone rules everything around me, you’re going to be disappointed. Joy overtook me as I slid my finger across the screen and became enveloped in darkness. Wanting to take a nap immediately, as a reclining 30-something man listening to Keith Jarrett is wont to do, I remembered that I could turn the light off from my phone. The only problem with that bed is that when I’m fully using the reclining capabilities-“zero gravity,” they call it-it’s not physically possible to reach my lamp. First, I was reclining in bed one day using my life-changing Casper adjustable base and became sleepy. The light in my own lamp needed to be replaced soon after, so she used a Hue and showed me how to link it to my phone. Not to the light itself, but to the idea of it. I found out shortly after that I was the only remaining person on the planet who had not heard of this light bulb.Īt first, I was slightly resistant to it. I asked why she’d decided to go with a purple light, and she informed me that it was a Philips Hue, and that not only could it change colors, but it could be controlled from her phone. To my surprise, however, I came into the bedroom one night and found that everything was bathed in a relaxing purple glow. I said sure, thinking she’d come home with one of those red lights that people screw in when they’re horny in the movies (or in Amsterdam). When looking for a light bulb for it, though, she asked if I’d be down for a colored bulb in our bedroom. It’s a handsome lamp, and I like how minimal it is. Actions for double or long button presses cannot currently be used.Recently, my girlfriend decided to get herself a new lamp for her nightstand-one of those big sphere ones from IK*A. There is only one restriction in the Alexa app: The switches only recognise a single, short button press. This directly offers even more possibilities. I would not necessarily see this as a disadvantage, but rather as an advantage. Important to know: Similar to the use of HomeKit, the Alexa routine placed on a switch is executed in addition to the commands stored in the Hue app. You’ll just have to see for yourself which ideas can be realised. An incredible amount is possible here, from Alexa commands and voice prompts to controlling a Fire TV or using a skill. Then, under “Add action”, you can select what should happen when the button is pressed. Then select the desired Hue switch and one of its buttons under “Smart Home”. In the following menu, you can first select a name for the routine and then tap “When the following happens”. Then select “Routines” from the following list and create one using the large plus symbol. To configure the Philips Hue switches, first tap “More” at the bottom right of the Alexa app.

This is how the setup works in the Alexa app

Party mode philips hue