Review of Hue motion sensors and possible Integration into Hue-topia for Mac

I first made Hue-topia and LIFXstyle some years ago after becoming very paranoid (justifiably) about intruders. 

At the time, no sensors existed for the system (at least as consumer products - Philips went with the zigbee network system, which in theory means that there were other third-party products that would work). I experimented with sound and motion detection using EyeSpy cameras, which worked. The security aspects of Hue-topia and LIFXstyle were the reason for the dragon icon (someone asked this question recently).

Both Philips and LIFX added products to their range - more bulbs, switches, sensors. I had to purchase any products I wanted to support, which would have cost more than the revenue from the apps. For this reason I stuck to supporting only the lights in my apps.

This is the reason that I'm very late to the party with the motion sensor, and I have to be honest, wanting an outside temperature reading is the main reason I went for one. 

Yes, each Philips motion sensor, despite the name, also contains a thermometer and possibly daylight sensor (though I've a feeling this may be calculated by the bridge and not a sensor, but I can't go back in time and check whether this pre-existed my first motion sensor).

Anyhow. Thanks to Philips' open API and REST interface, it's very simple to read these sensor values. As you can see in the first screenshot I've added a little functionality to Hue-topia (in my development version thus far). I can now see the outside temperature* from the status bar of any of my computers/laptops.

I have to say that adding my first motion sensor to my network was a breeze. A magnetic mount makes it very easy to put up (and take down to change the battery). It's a tiny thing, which makes it discreet. It's battery-powered which was important to me. The last thing you need is another thing to plug into a socket.  Having to route wires is a pain and restricts where you can place it.   When I pulled the tab to connect the battery it started to flash, which seemed to indicate that it was searching.  I chose 'Discover' in Hue-topia and the flashing stopped. It was then working on the network without me even having to walk to the bridge and press a button. I obviously have yet to discover how long the batteries (2xAAA I think) last. 

Traditionally and personally I've leaned towards the LIFX system; the bulbs were brighter and did more colours*. I have to say that, many years on and many bulbs later, I own more broken LIFX bulbs than Hue bulbs (3:1). As well as this apparent better reliability, the Hue bridge is a good thing. Yes, it's an extra product to buy and give space (and a power socket) to. LIFX use 'bridgeless' as a selling point. But the Hue bridge does have a lot of functionality and is always on, more reliable and maintenance-free than my 'always on' mac. After moving house, the Hue bulbs have been easier to get working again than my LIFX bulbs and strips.

In short I'm warming to the Hue system and I'm liking the motion sensors a lot. My rule for switching the porch light on when motion is detected is working really well*. Its sensitivity seems just right, it seems to talk to the bridge reliably even though they are at opposite ends of the house and the sensor is outside (I seem to remember that the hue/zigbee system is a mesh, so the bulbs themselves may be serving as relays). 

At this point I'm not sure how much of the 'rule' functionality I'm going to build into Hue-topia. Philips seem to have the 'formula' system sewn up into their mobile app. I've been using the built-in debug tool to add and edit my own rules (because I don't personally like cloud-based systems). Once they're set up, they're set up and it'll probably be only groups and scenes that I need to edit, so I suspect that building a 'rule builder' into HT would be a lot of work which would be of interest to very few people. Tell me if I'm wrong. 

I may well release a little update that puts any temperatures detected into the status bar menu.

* I have read that this may be a degree or two out (I don't have a reliable thermometer here to calibrate mine) but it's a very simple matter to adjust this in software. I'll probably add a box in Preferences so that the user can enter "-1.2" or whatever

*I think some of the 'friends of hue' range did the full range of colours, but in the early days, the domestic-style Hue bulbs had a limited colour space. Green was weak and blue almost non-existent. I haven't tried more recently-produced bulbs. To be objective, I probably only sweep the colour range when showing off to friends and family. Other than Halloween parties or effects lighting, I can't see a use for a strong green or strong blue. In normal use I find that I like to use the Hue colour bulbs in 'white' mode, which gives you a spectrum from cold to very warm. That's all you really need in a domestic setting.

*switching off after a period of being on is not.  I suspect that this may be because the porch light illuminates an area that can be seen by the sensor (which is part of the point) and so switching it off may be triggering it to come on again. I need to experiment more with this.

How do LIFXstyle and Hue-topia look when built to run on the new dark mode?

This good:

I'm really chuffed with this, in fact I'm increasingly pleased with dark mode, it's really easy on the eye and Apple have done a great job.

If I had applications that really needed dark mode then it's my lighting controllers Hue-topia and LIFXstyle. The last thing you want when you're adjusting mood lighting is a bright laptop screen illuminating the room.

The new versions with dark mode enabled will be ready before too long.

Lifestyle for LIFX and LIFXstyle - what's going on?

This post has the relevant keywords in the title for the benefit of anyone who uses Google to find clarification.

For some years now (since Oct 2014) my app for controlling LIFX bulbs has been called LIFXstyle (pronounced Lifestyle by me but no-one else would know that and is free to say it how they like). Incidentally it's based on Hue-topia (for Philips Hue bulbs) which goes back to 2013.

I started the year with some optimism, as you do, determined to spend the time and jump through the hoops and publish more of my apps on the Mac App Store. This 'can-do' attitude was quickly knocked into touch after two rejections of this app (technically one 'more information' and one rejection). One of the reasons for rejection was the name.

It's frustrating to be faced with an imperative to change the name of something so well-established (and well-selling). So I'm not changing the name of the version sold outside of the Apple Store, unless LIFX themselves complain, which they haven't to date.

"XXXX for LIFX" was the format suggested by Apple in the rejection. The rejection was under their 'copycat' policy, I guess it was too similar to "LIFX" which is the name of LIFX's own app. Anyway, of course I went with their suggestion, keeping the new name as similar as I possibly could to the original name of my app.

That's the reason why the version available for web download is called LIFXstyle and the version on the App Store is called Lifestyle for LIFX
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Drag and drop colours from and to LIFX and Hue bulbs

If you're an existing user of LIFXstyle or Hue-topia you may think "that's not new". Versions 1 and 2 did allow you to drag colours around but with version 3 and much new functionality, the drag and drop has been missing.

The drag and drop does now carry the warmth / colour temperature value. (And of course brightness and saturation.) So if you've found a nice setting for one lamp, whether that's white with a little warmth or a full-on colour, you can drag the colour to other lamps / groups / locations.

This will be in Hue-topia 3.0.9 and is already released in LIFXstyle 3.1.1

Smart home news

We've never really pushed this point but our smart bulb controllers for MacOS, LIFXstyle and Hue-topia, have deliberately functioned within your local network, free of dependency on the companies' cloud systems.

LIFXstyle has relied on LIFX's own development kit for Mac, which has long been unsupported and has gone out of date.

So we chose to put a lot of time into LIFXstyle,  writing our own code from the ground up to communicate via LIFXs LAN protocol (using their cloud system was never an option, even though it would have been an easier development journey). In early testing this seems reliable and responsive.

We've also made some well-overdue improvements to the interface. You can see from the early screenshots here that there's better navigation, allowing you to choose to view lamps / groups / locations / tags.  The status bar menu is improved, giving you more information and control up there in the status bar. There's a new minimalist layout, making four options for the layout of the interface. For changing the colour or warmth, we've made our own custom colour picker geared towards smartbulbs.

It still contains powerful features like scheduling, presets, the drag-and-drop effects designer, control of groups and locations (which will be in sync with the official phone app) and Applescript support. No price increase is planned and the new version will be a simple and free upgrade to existing LIFXstyle users.

Support for the new multi-zone strips and other enhancements are planned shortly.

Our Hue app, Hue-topia will inherit these interface changes after beta testing them. This new version of LIFXstyle is now available for download as a beta.

Effects Designer for LIFX and Hue bulbs

Here is the first look at a new drag and drop lighting effects designer for our Hue-topia and LIFXstyle light controllers.



You'll be able to create more sophisticated versions of the false dawn / dusk or go the whole hog and create a 24hr daylight simulator (blue hour / golden hour etc)

And you'll be able to get creative and design mood effects such as flickering fire, colour cycling for party effects or mood.

I think all bases are covered, you can set the length of the whole cycle from 1s to 24hrs, whether it's 'one shot' or loops, the length of the transitions.

You can apply effects to a single bulb, groups or rooms, manually or on schedule.

This feature is now in version 2.0 (beta) of  LIFXstyle and Hue-topia

Flic button support in LIFXstyle and Hue-topia

Although it seems slightly ironic to install smart bulbs and then buy a physical button to switch them on/off, a 'smart button' is something I've been searching for for some time.

A LIFXstyle user asked me about support for Flic buttons and they looked just like what I've been looking for. And they've lived up to the promise. There's nothing for scale in the picture below. The buttons are pretty small, around an inch in diameter. They have a small battery within, which is said to have a life of 5 years and then is replaceable. They come with a fabulous sticky back and can be stuck onto a surface, pulled off and stuck to something else apparently ad infinitum (the sticky surface is washable). There's an optional clip which can be fitted if you want to wear the button.

(Let me say right out that I've had to buy my buttons like everyone else, and I'm not earning any kind of commission).

I should also point out that Flic buttons can work Hue and LIFX bulbs without my software, but maybe you're like me and would rather not be connecting your buttons and your bulbs to cloud services.

They've turned out to be very easy to use and integrate into my apps. Support on a Mac involves running the Flic Service which is currently beta.

There's now a window within LIFXstyle and Hue-topia which allows you to add and configure your buttons.

• The above window is called up using the menu item View > Flic Manager (cmd-4)
• Note also the Menu item LIFXstyle > Connect to Flic Service / Disconnect from Flic Service. Connection should be made automatically, but you can try toggling this if you have problems.
• If your button isn't in the list, use the 'Scan' button and press your Flic button. It should appear in the Flic Manager list if it's discoverable. (Your computer may also ask for permission to pair if you've not already paired that button with the computer.) Stop scanning and check the box to tell LIFXstyle/Hue-topia you want to connect to it.
• For each button in the list, choose presets (or 'All on / All off') for each action (single, double-click, hold)
• Edit your button's name. If you use the keywords white, black, green, blue or yellow in the name (eg 'My black button #1') then the 'ready' icon will appear in the right colour.

• The Flic service requires MacOS 10.10 or higher. Without using the Flic functionality, LIFXstyle should run on 10.9 or higher, Hue-topia should run on 10.8 or above.


All of this is available in v2.0 beta of both LIFXstyle and Hue-topia. At present these aren't available for download on the site, but please contact me if you'd like to help test either.

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Philips Hue bulbs, see your Hue-topia schedules as a gantt chart

The gantt chart mentioned in the previous post (as a new feature in LIFXstyle) is now built into Hue-topia

Hue-topia gives you a number of ways to schedule your lamps; groups, presets, dawn/dusk, and with a number of schedules set up, it may be difficult to see what's going on. The chart shows you any day or a week (bearing in mind that schedules can be set to happen on particular days).

It will be ready for beta testing soon. If you're interested in running it, please let me know.

LIFX - see your schedules as a gantt chart

LIFXstyle gives you some very powerful tools for scheduling your lamps. Schedule individual lamps, groups to switch on, off or change colour. Set up presets and trigger those on schedule.

With a number of schedules set up (possibly overlapping) it's difficult to see exactly what's going to happen. Or if a lamp doesn't behave as expected, the reason may not be obvious.

Viewing your schedules as a gantt chart should help. View a day (24hrs) or a whole week. Click a block (either to the left or the right) to see the particular schedule which is responsible at that point.

This chart is now in alpha testing. If you'd like a copy for beta testing ahead of the main release, please get in touch.