Now Philips Hue Can be Controlled Using Siri

I don’t particularly want to have several hubs for various different home automation needs, so it would be nice if Philips had built in native support for the second generation Hue Hub to command such things as door locks, smart coffee makers, and alarm systems.

Philips announced its new Hue 2.0 bridge, which will be sold as a standalone piece of hardware and included in the updated Hue starter pack, supports Apple HomeKit. The company dubs this square-shaped hub as a future-proof device able to support multiple connected home platforms as well as old and new bulbs and lamps.

With HomeKit, users can adjust the lighting through voice commands on an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. With HomeKit integration, you can control lights not only from the Philips Hue app but also using Siri voice controls.

Philips’ Hue is an Internet-of-things device that connects to lighting, allowing users to control their lighting from their smartphone.

The new integration – which does require you to buy a brand new bridge, since the existing bridge does not work with the HomeKit – not only lets you play around with the Phillips Hue bulbs, but also lets you perform a few cool new acrobatics via components from other manufacturers. These can be as simple as “turn all my lights off” to kill all the lights in your home or as complicated as “set living room lights to 10 percent”, which will dim only the bulbs in that specific room. In its studies of how lighting affects people and our quality of life, Philips has come up with what it calls “light recipes” for when you need a certain kind of mood in your home. However, they announced that they will continue providing support for the existing Hue bridge. Philips’ new bridge will also remain compatible will all current Philips Hue Products.

Let’s say, for example, a Hue Bridge and HomeKit user is on their way home from work, they can now alert Siri to enter the Arrive Home mode, and the Philips Hue lights will turn on, according to the press release. The new Philips bridge is hitting the European and North American markets starting October 6th.