Home Automation (Hue Lights)

[NickA]

This is an Android question in general, but since I'm switching back and forth between the Pixel XL and iPhone 7+ I figured I'd post it here.

I use the Home app on iOS (and also Siri) to control my Hue lights, and also the Echo Dot. Can I not use the Google Assistant to do the same thing? I can't find it in the settings anywhere. I'm not going to use the Google Home because I already have the Echo Dot and not going to switch at this time.

If I can't use the Assistant, is there an app the works with the Philips Hue app so I can control the lights by voice?

 

[xkoolaidislifex]

You should be able to connect Google Assistant to Hue through IFTTT at a minimum.

 

[Pigman]

That would be cool! We are currently using ours with the Echo.

 

[gabbott]

I have hue lights and ever since I got a Google home the Google assistant on my phone can control them. I think because I added a home to my account it gave me the ability to add the hue bridge.

It's nice to pull in the driveway and from the car say ok Google turn on the living room lights.

 

[anon(847090)]

I have hue lights and ever since I got a Google home the Google assistant on my phone can control them. I think because I added a home to my account it gave me the ability to add the hue bridge.

It's nice to pull in the driveway and from the car say ok Google turn on the living room lights.

I was looking for this answer. but can you control it from outside your wifi network?

 

[gabbott]

I was looking for this answer. but can you control it from outside your wifi network?

Yes, I'm at work and control my home lights via Google assistant

 

[anon(847090)]

Yes, I'm at work and control my home lights via Google assistant

cool thats awesome, one last question. can i see what light is ON/OFF from google Home app and control it manually rather than via voice(or hue app)?

 

[gabbott]

cool thats awesome, one last question. can i see what light is ON/OFF from google Home app and control it manually rather than via voice(or hue app)?

No in the home app you can only assign lights to rooms and name them.

 

[anon(847090)]

No in the home app you can only assign lights to rooms and name them.

thats a bummer. hope they add that option. since they already can do actions on light. it wont be that difficult to add

 

[robber]

I was looking for this answer. but can you control it from outside your wifi network?

For the record, this works with ifttt as well.

 

[jam4775]

This is an Android question in general, but since I'm switching back and forth between the Pixel XL and iPhone 7+ I figured I'd post it here.

I use the Home app on iOS (and also Siri) to control my Hue lights, and also the Echo Dot. Can I not use the Google Assistant to do the same thing? I can't find it in the settings anywhere. I'm not going to use the Google Home because I already have the Echo Dot and not going to switch at this time.

If I can't use the Assistant, is there an app the works with the Philips Hue app so I can control the lights by voice?

You need a device on your network to connect to the Philips Hue bridge. When you phone is connected to your home network it can connect to the Hue Bridge through an app like the Hue app (this app does not have voice control)... but the Google Home app doesn't appear to be designed to connect to the Hue Bridge through your phone... instead it uses the Google Home device to connect to the Hue Bridge.

But once you have a Google Home device connected to the Hue Bridge and you are using the same Google account for both the Home and the Assistant on your Pixel Phone, you can use your Pixel to control your lights with your voice and the Assistant.

 

[y2whisper]

Nice, gotta play around with this then.

 

[Impulses]

Any of you have the Hue bridge behind a second router acting as bridge? Because that's how I'll be setting mine up but I read a vague warning about that the other day that left me wandering.

Anyone using third party apps? There seems to be an iOS one that was getting hyped to high heaven earlier in the year, particularly for it's ability to add extra functions to the dimmer thru long pressses etc, not sure there's an Android equivalent.

I don't care much about rainbow lighting but being able to tweak the white color temperature does interest me so I'm about to buy the White Ambiance starter kit to experiment with (hub, 2 bulbs, dimmer). Probably gonna put them in the bedroom/office for now... It'd go:

main router (living room) -> unmanaged switch -> bridge router -> Hue Hub

 

[NickA]

Thanks for the replies. So it sounds like if I get a Google Home and use the same account as my Pixel, I can use the Assistant on the Pixel to control the Hue bridge. Otherwise, I need to download a collection of apps (Tasker, IFTTT, etc.), which I don't really want to do.

I think Google should build something like iOS has (Home). It's so easy to add smart devices and use Siri to control them, and it's free.

 

[Impulses]

They did, they just haven't added integration with any other lights besides Phillips AFAIK. For direct app control you can just use Hue's own app or third party ones...