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Ask HN: Now That Phillips Is Enshittified, How Can I Run My Phillips Hue Lights?

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Ask HN: Now That Phillips Is Enshittified, How Can I Run My Phillips Hue Lights?

#1

Post by LikelyABurner »

For those of you that don’t know, the Phillips Hue app will soon be requiring you to sign up for an account to control Phillips Hue lights. Previously, they sold a Zigabee router specially for the use case of local control over WiFi, which is why I bought overpriced Hue lights over their cheaper competitor to begin with, but I guess that sweet data stream to make an AI based on light switching patterns was just too tempting.

The real kicker is they’re billing this as a “security requirement”, as though adding an additional cloud boundary to my threat model, all for a set of fucking light bulbs, could possibly increase my security.

I hate the future.

Now that my ranting is out of the way, how can I continue to control my lights without the proprietary app? I know they’re Zigabee and thus it’s an open standard so it should be possible, what are my options?

Re: Ask HN: Now That Phillips Is Enshittified, How Can I Run My Phillips Hue Lights?

#5

Post by catchnear4321 »

throwaway798214 wrote: post #4

Don't take this the wrong way... but I control my lights with mechanical switches that are installed to walls of my home. They don't need logins to any cloud services, in fact they don't even have internet. They just work.

but how do you turn off the light once you are already in bed?

Re: Ask HN: Now That Phillips Is Enshittified, How Can I Run My Phillips Hue Lights?

#6

Post by gcatalfamo »

bombcar wrote: post #2

You could look at https://www.home-assistant.io or if you're in the Apple ecosystem you could use the Home app which apparently can talk to Hue (for now).

Or homebridge.

Anyway as soon as you configure the phillips hue lights through homekit you never have to use their app ever.

Re: Ask HN: Now That Phillips Is Enshittified, How Can I Run My Phillips Hue Lights?

#7

Post by evanlivingston »

catchnear4321 wrote: post #5
throwaway798214 wrote: post #4

Don't take this the wrong way... but I control my lights with mechanical switches that are installed to walls of my home. They don't need logins to any cloud services, in fact they don't even have internet. They just work.

but how do you turn off the light once you are already in bed?

There are a handful of solutions to the problem of the lights being on while in bed, but wanting them to be off. One way is to turn off the lights before entering the bed. Another way is to get out of the bed and turn off the lights and then return to the bed.

Another popular solution is to place a lamp near the bed, such that the light controlled by the wall switch can be turned off before entering the bed and the lamp nearer the bed can be turned off while in bed.

Re: Ask HN: Now That Phillips Is Enshittified, How Can I Run My Phillips Hue Lights?

#8

Post by bombcar »

gcatalfamo wrote: post #6
bombcar wrote: post #2

You could look at https://www.home-assistant.io or if you're in the Apple ecosystem you could use the Home app which apparently can talk to Hue (for now).

Or homebridge. Anyway as soon as you configure the phillips hue lights through homekit you never have to use their app ever.

HomeKit still controls some Best Buy switches that had their cloud shut down years ago, which is nice and a reason local control is the way to go.

Re: Ask HN: Now That Phillips Is Enshittified, How Can I Run My Phillips Hue Lights?

#9

Post by catchnear4321 »

evanlivingston wrote: post #7
catchnear4321 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but how do you turn off the light once you are already in bed?

There are a handful of solutions to the problem of the lights being on while in bed, but wanting them to be off. One way is to turn off the lights before entering the bed. Another way is to get out of the bed and turn off the lights and then return to the bed. Another popular solution is to place a lamp near the bed, such that the light controlled by the wall switch can be turned off before entering the bed and the l…

sorry, the correct answer was “clap.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clapper

Re: Ask HN: Now That Phillips Is Enshittified, How Can I Run My Phillips Hue Lights?

#10

Post by philomath_mn »

evanlivingston wrote: post #7
catchnear4321 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but how do you turn off the light once you are already in bed?

There are a handful of solutions to the problem of the lights being on while in bed, but wanting them to be off. One way is to turn off the lights before entering the bed. Another way is to get out of the bed and turn off the lights and then return to the bed. Another popular solution is to place a lamp near the bed, such that the light controlled by the wall switch can be turned off before entering the bed and the l…

Nobody asked for an AI generated response
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