[beingbenjamin]

Thinking about getting the Hue starter kit, but I want to make sure about a couple things, if anyone can lend their knowledgeable assistance.

1) Does it work for sockets on a three-way switch?

2) Can they ONLY be controlled by the app and no longer by a light switch? Or can you leave the light bulbs turned on in the app, but turn the physical light switch on and off as usual?

[auntiewiv]

Mine work fine on multiple switches (top and bottom of the stairs) just as I would expect. In order for them to be controlled by the app or HomeKit, they need to be left switched on at the wall switch. You can then turn them on and off with the app. I also purchased some Philips hue remote switches which give on/off/dim functions without the app. When a Philips hue bulb receives power after being turned off at the wall, it's default state is 100% white light so it will still function if you don't have the app to hand.

[Rene Ritchie]

Yes and no. If the switch is turned off the app can no longer turn the lights on, since no power is reaching them.

[beingbenjamin]

Well I mean yeah I understand that. But I'm asking if they'll come on if the light switch is turned on. Or if you then must go to the app.

Turning on a light is an instantaneous result and I'm asking this because I'm afraid the delay in using voice or app will be annoying as I stand in a dark room for several seconds messing with my device to turn them on.

[beingbenjamin]

Well I took the plunge I purchased a starter kit, light strip, and extra bulb. The answer is, yes you can control from a switch. They'll come on at about ohhhh 80% slightly warm white. And like Rene said, if they are turned off, gotta remember to flip the switch back on in order to control them away.

But here's my next rub. I'm setting up some IFTTT recipes but I can seem to only choose all lights or one bulb. Well, if there's a fixture with several lights that you want to all come on or off together--like in a ceiling fan--what do you have to do, set up a recipe for each bulb? Yuck! Does IFTTT not let you group bulbs?

[mavsguy842]

I bought a Hue Tap (4 button physical switch) so that I can leave all 3 zones in my living room switched on at all times. Sometimes my daughter will turn one of the zones off from the wall switch, which I annoyingly find out later when I press the Hue Tap to activate a scene and 4 bulbs remain off. Without the Hue Tap, Philips Hue would be considerably less usable for my family. With a physical switch, and IFTTT recipes for auto-dimming at certain times of the night, I'm generally the only one who ever actually interfaces with the bulbs through HomeKit or the Hue app.

[mavsguy842]

UPDATE:
I initially had an IFTTT recipe for all bulbs to dim by 5% each half hour starting around 8pm in the summer, 7pm in the winter, but realized that would no longer work when my daughters' rooms kept lighting up each half hour. My living room has 7 Hue White+Color in can lights. One or All isn't that useful when you expand to multiple rooms, or very distinct fixtures. I still have an IFTTT recipe that turns off all lights in the house at 1am, as a failsafe in case I forget to turn anything off.

I've since added 3 Hue White (the advanced gen 2) to my infant daughter's room, and 2 Hue White + Color to my older daughter's room, each with a Hue dimmer switch remote. I made the switch away from IFTTT recipes to native HomeKit time-based triggers because it's much easier to setup scenes and have the trigger activate the scene than it is to create 7 IFTTT recipes (1 for each bulb) for the living room, 3 IFTTT recipes (1 for each bulb) in the nursery, and two IFTTT recipes (1 for each bulb) in my daughter's room. The main downside is that since I don't have an Apple TV, the dimming doesn't work unless I am at home - this is an issue when I'm not at home but my family is, and if we're on vacation the house no longer gives the impression that we're still at home.

[robertk328]

These posts are all super helpful. I've considered the Hue system but seems there's a bit of a curve to getting them the way you want them to work. I think we're closer to adding some to our house based on your posts

[mavsguy842]

If I had to do it again I wouldn't get the Hue Tap. It's very convenient in that it doesn't take batteries, but the up-front cost is so much higher than the Hue dimmer switch that I don't think it's worth the price premium. You can assign 5 scenes to the Dimmer's ON button so it cycles through the scenes with each push. As infrequently as I change scenes manually I think the downside of multiple presses in those cases, plus the benefit of instantaneous manual dimmer control, makes it the better choice overall.

[07GD SFD]

I currently only have 1 color bulb and its in our bedroom. The housing is capable to taking 2 bulbs. My question is if I get a second bulb for that housing, will the two bulbs display the same color or can they be separate and have the colors blend?

[Wotchered]

I like switches

[graison]

they can be separate, you would make a scene in the app assigning those two bulbs and the colors you want.

[mavsguy842]

I currently only have 1 color bulb and its in our bedroom. The housing is capable to taking 2 bulbs. My question is if I get a second bulb for that housing, will the two bulbs display the same color or can they be separate and have the colors blend?

My daughter's light fixture has two Hue color bulbs and one of her favorite scenes (that we created) is called "Blue Purple" because one of the bulbs is blue and the other is pinkish purple. Blending colors is one of the coolest things to do with your Hue bulbs.