# AMBEE for Philips Hue Lights — user reviews > 213 indexed App Store user reviews of AMBEE for Philips Hue Lights by Ambee, s.r.o., rated 4.60/5 from 966 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ambee-for-philips-hue-lights/id1042610676/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ambee-for-philips-hue-lights/id1042610676.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 754 · 4★ 116 · 3★ 35 · 2★ 11 · 1★ 50 ## What do users think of AMBEE for Philips Hue Lights? Overall sentiment: mixed **Pros** - 💎 Excellent animations and color palettes - 👍 Simple and intuitive interface - 🎨 Transforms Hue lights in a beautiful way - 🤝 Responsive and helpful developer support **Cons** - 💰 Subscription model is too expensive - 🔋 High battery drain on mobile devices - 🐛 Occasional freezing and timeout issues - 🔒 Requires account registration to access full features **Commonly reported bugs** - Losing purchased content after reinstalling the app - Incompatibility with newer Hue Bridge models **Most requested features** - Allow control of individual room/zone lighting - Add option to adjust animation speed and brightness - Integrate with voice assistants like Siri or Alexa - Provide more free scene samples before paid purchase ## Newest reviews (14 of 213) ### 4/5 — Not working with Hue Bridge Pro! *2025-11-23, version 2.3.0* I love this app and the animations are very nice. It only works with the old Hue Bridges. ### 2/5 — Did Ambee go under again? *2025-03-24, version 2.3.0* The app hasn’t been updated in a very long time ### 2/5 — Skip it *2023-05-27, version 2.3.0* Incredibly limited functionality - and also, do know, this is only a “scenes” app - does not allow you to actually control your lighting system. Stick with better options such as iConnectHue or even the Hue app. Pretty disappointed. ### 3/5 — Neat but lacking *2022-12-31, version 2.3.0* For the price of a $25 yearly subscription, I would expect to be able to customize the scenes to include more than just one room without having to apply it to all of the lights in the house. But from what I can see, that’s not an option. The response time is laggy and the interface isn’t very intuitive. Lots of potential here, but save your money for now. ### 3/5 — Issues since the 2.0 update *2022-07-03, version 2.3.0* I use this app for long periods (a few hours at least). Before the update, I used to simply set the animation and it would work basically forever until I stop it. Now, after the update, the animation stops after a certain time, I’m not sure how long, maybe 30 minutes or less. The app window is usually frozen, and then I have to reopen the app to set the animation again. I’m often listening to music/ambient sounds when this happens, and now, scenes that don’t have a soundtrack cause the music from other apps to stop. ### 4/5 — login *2022-04-25, version 2.0.1* Thank you, I didn't know you had to be logged into getting your purchase it back. But I still like the old variation better ### 1/5 — InAppkäufe mangelhaft *2022-04-06, version 2.0* Nach dem Update auf 2.0 sind viele meiner inAppkäufe wieder gesperrt, obwohl ich alle gekauft habe. Die Lichtanimationen, die vorher kostenlos waren, sind gar nicht mehr vorhanden. Sehr, sehr schade, da ich diese App täglich verwendet habe, aber seit dem Update nicht mehr. ### 1/5 — Doesn’t connect to bridge *2022-04-01, version 2.0* Had to laugh at help section notifying you to uninstall and reinstall app several times to work. Don’t waste your time! ### 2/5 — Nice app but wrong pricing *2022-03-28, version 2.0* First this app seems to be one of the best regarding dynamic scenes. So props to the devs. However pricing seems to be out of range: the best price is 50$ a year to get access to dynamic scenes. Hard to swallow. ### 1/5 — $grab *2022-03-28, version 2.0* At the new current pricing they want us to pay $3 a week to use the app, $47 for a year. The app is worth $10 for lifetime. Charge to upgrade fine but don’t try to siphon my $ ‘s constantly. Stop software rental. ### 1/5 — Nicht zu empfehlen *2021-10-05, version 1.2.1* Diese App funktioniert nur mit Abo sie wird jedoch als kostenlose App gekennzeichnet. Sehr schlechte Umsetzung der App übrigens auch noch und dafür wird Geld verlangt. Ich empfinde es als eine Frechheit und fühle mich als Benutzer betrogen. Diese App sollte im App Store als irreführend gekennzeichnet werden. Ein Punkt vergebe ich nur um die Bewertung reinzustellen. Ich bin sehr enttäuscht. ### 1/5 — Doesn’t connect *2021-07-04, version 1.2.1* Would not connect to any of my hue bridge. Sat it on top of my bridge and still won’t connect. Just sit there and say searching for bridge. Waist of time. ### 4/5 — Best/easiest light app (add iPad display please) *2021-05-13, version 1.2.1* Love everything about it. Just wish that ithere was a horizontal display for iPad. ### 4/5 — Mailer-Deamon *2021-04-17, version 1.2.1* Sorry Tomas I know this is not the best place to contact you, but having failure to reply to you (Mailee-Deamon reply to your email) Hi Tomas, Mail failure when trying to reply to your #3 update!!! (Text below in () ). Re #3: Yes, very good Tomas, Looking good, a lot of progress. Looking forward to your next update. Have a good weekend. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Can’t login *2026-02-15, version 2.3.0* If it’s on an Apple phone, it won’t let you login because it’s too far to the bottom. It’s been like this for about a year now. That I knew of. ### 1/5 — Won’t restore my purchases *2024-08-25, version 2.3.0* Was good until I reinstalled :( ### 1/5 — Just list the price *2023-09-12, version 2.3.0* Tired of installing apps only to find out about hidden fees. Why waste my time? ### 1/5 — Has decent potential *2023-03-09, version 2.3.0* Could be a good app, if the app itself didn’t timeout after a while and wasn’t a considerable battery drain. I’ll notice after a few minutes the lights are no longer changing color, I bring the app up on my phone and it’s just frozen, have to shut it down and bring it back up. It’s laughable to have a subscription to an app that works for 5 minutes. Uninstalled. Update after dev response 3/9/23 I’m good, I uninstalled your app. I see now you’ve abandoned this project and only respond with “give me a detailed description” to make it seem like you care. ### 1/5 — Has decent potential *2023-01-11, version 2.3.0* Could be a good app, if the app itself didn’t timeout after a while and wasn’t a considerable battery drain. I’ll notice after a few minutes the lights are no longer changing color, I bring the app up on my phone and it’s just frozen, have to shut it down and bring it back up. It’s laughable to have a subscription to an app that works for 5 minutes. Uninstalled. ### 1/5 — Still bad; battery killer!! *2022-12-20, version 2.3.0* **12/20/22: Tomas, stop replying to EVERY 1-star review asking for a more ‘detailed’ response and fix your app. You’ve only received bad reviews this past year, isn’t that enough ~details~??? Not as good as it once was. Now it’s even depleting my battery, in under an hour, to zero! I wake up every morning to a dead phone now. 0/0 ### 1/5 — No longer works *2022-10-16, version 2.3.0* This used to be a great app, despite a clunky interface. After a long “overhaul” period when the developer continuously assured everyone big changes were coming, the big change finally dropped, and boy was it a bomb. Now the interface looks great but the functionality is shot. Animations frequently stop completely when other apps are subsequently opened. In particular, Spotify wreaks havoc on Ambee and vice versa: merely opening Spotify causes animations to stop, and merely opening Ambee causes Spotify to pause. I haven’t even been able to pinpoint which apps, or whether it’s just a timeout, causes Ambee to stop working. Not only will it stop, but the app itself freezes up. I spent over $60 on animations prior to the overhaul and now it’s dead. RIP tho 🥺 ### 1/5 — Please read *2022-09-03, version 2.3.0* When I tried the app I did not want to sign in and when I tried to use my regular light it didn’t work so I don’t want a accont I want it free ### 1/5 — Used to be great *2022-04-07, version 2.0* A formerly fun app with genuinely good light formulas, but a grab for subscriptions. A subscription to what? There have been no new light formulas for a very long time. I would know, I bought the in app credits for almost every design. That was over a year ago at least and there have been no new lighting designs. That was fine when you bought them a la carte. However since this redesign and move to subscription model, have not been able to restore my purchases. Buyer beware, you will subscribing to nothing new other than a fresh coat of paint in the UI. No thanks. ### 1/5 — Do not update *2022-04-07, version 2.0* This company steals all your money! I tried to restore purchases and got nothing. I ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Champagne and Caviar *2025-06-19, version 2.3.0* I love this app. I used the previous version and waited long for the newest version. What I Like: 1) Ambee uses the richest colors I have ever seen in a Hue app. The reds are the most brilliant. The blues, purples, magentas and oranges are top rate. 2) the new app is exceedingly simple. There is no guessing. And I know this is one of the things the developer paid special attention to. 3) I’ve noticed with other apps there is something that affects switches and white lights which makes it a pain to use. But not Ambee. No interference at all. What I don’t like: 1) The app heavily uses resources and will drain you battery rather quickly. 2) Times-out and freezes randomly. ### 5/5 — Amended review.. *2022-05-06, version 2.1.0* Love the app and the colour pallets, easy to use, plenty of variation, what’s not to like and enjoy. Update…Yipee! The developer heard my concerns here in the UK. The cost of the app for a yearly subscription is now in my opinion in line with the US. Well worth the money an excellent app, beautiful colours, easy to use. A 5 Star winner, just try and buy. ### 5/5 — My favorite app for Phillips Hue *2022-03-06, version 1.2.1* After the update it forgot my login credentials and when I attempt to log in it reports too many log in attempts -try again later. No ability to reset a password. Therefore they took a great app and made it completely worthless. ### 5/5 — Account disabled? *2021-11-27, version 1.2.1* I got a new phone and couldn’t sign in. I tried several times and now the app is “temporarily” disabled. The problem is I’ve tried it several times over the past month and a half with no luck and now way to reset the password. Love the app when it works, which was always u til recently. Update: I emailed the developer and received a response almost immediately with a link to reset my password. Ambee is my favorite Hue app again! ### 5/5 — Some really great animations *2021-09-02, version 1.2.1* I love this app. I have about 35 color led bulbs plus some strips in all the rooms in my apartment. I really love the dim animations as I don’t like it very bright in my home. To the developer. A nice feature to add would be to allow different rooms to run different animation. Oh and the in app “write a review”. It looks like the font color might be set to white on a white background. ### 5/5 — Came back 2 years later to leave a review *2021-06-23, version 1.2.1* This app is perfect if you have a lot of Hue lights. It truly is transformative. You feel like you’re on a Broadway stage or in a Disney attraction. It is PERFECT for when you have guests over, especially for parties. The static scenes make even ordinary lighting creative. I can’t rate this app high enough. Exceptional work. ### 5/5 — Super *2021-04-11, version 1.2.1* Good selection, easy to use and you have a good variety of lights before you need to buy any credits. I’m pretty impressed. On the minus side it’s only in portrait mode and there isn’t an iMac app. ### 5/5 — Great App *2020-12-06, version 1.2.1* Enjoy Ambee . Works well and easy to set up . ### 5/5 — Just wonderful *2020-08-08, version 1.2.1* love this app the lights are always just perfect! Fantastic job!! ### 5/5 — Most used app *2020-07-27, version 1.2.1* I love this app and the support around it. Thank you for replying so quickly to help me get back into my account. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-14.*