# Thunderstorm for LIFX — Rain and lightning effects > Synchronizes LIFX smart lights with thunderstorm sound and light effects. (iPhone/iPad app by Scott Dodson.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thunderstorm-for-lifx/id1110240379 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Scott Dodson](https://appshunter.io/developer/1033778296) - Category: Entertainment - Price: $2.99 - Rating: 5.00/5 from 2 App Store ratings · 10 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 12+ - Requires: iOS 13.0.0 · 74 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2016-05-05 - Data updated: 2026-08-27 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thunderstorm-for-lifx/id1110240379/reviews.md ## What is Thunderstorm for LIFX? Summon a thunderstorm light show using your LIFX lights. Watch your lights pulse and flash to the sounds of a storm.* *Internet connection and LIFX Cloud account required THUNDERSTORMS • Strong Thunderstorm — Heavy rain with frequent lightning and thunder nearby Lights pulse quickly to the sound of heavy rain. Booming sounds of thunder accompany bright flashes of light. • Normal Thunderstorm — Steady rain with a full range of lightning and thunder Lights pulse to the sound of rain. The sound of thunder can be heard from various distances. The closer the lightning, the louder the sound, and the brighter the flashes of light! • Weak Thunderstorm — Light rain with occasional lightning and thunder far off Lights pulse slowly to the sound of light rain. Dim flashes of light are followed by soft sounds of thunder. • Passing Thunderstorms — Rain and lightning intensity changes as the storms pass Lights pulse and flash at different rates to correspond with the current strength of the storm. SETTINGS Sky • Change the color and brightness of your lights Rain • Toggle rain sound effects • Change rain audio: Default, Heavy, Steady, Light, On Tin Roof • Change rain volume • Toggle rain light effects • Toggle zone control • Change rain pulse rate: Default, Slow, Medium, Fast • Target lights for rain light effects • Change rain transition effects: Pulse, Fade Quickly, Fade Slowly • Change the color and brightness of the rain light effects Lightning/Thunder • Toggle thunder sound effects • Change thunder volume • Change delay lightning (Wireless audio delay offset) • Toggle delay thunder • Toggle lightning light effects • Target lights for lightning light effects • Change lightning transition effects: Random, Pulse, Fade Quickly, Fade Slowly, Flicker • Change lightning/thunder occurrence: Default, Never, Occasional, Normal, Frequent, Unreal • Change color and max brightness of the lightning light effects Passing Thunderstorms • Change starting storm for Passing Thunderstorms: Weak, Normal, Strong • Change cycle time for Passing Thunderstorms: 15m, 30m, 60m Background Sounds • Toggle background sounds: Birds, Cicadas, Crickets, Frogs • Change background sounds volume General • Change default end state: On, Off, Revert • Change sleep end state: On, Off, Revert • Select mode to automatically start when app opens • Choose time to automatically stop selected mode • Choose time to automatically restart selected mode when sleep timer ends, enabling recurring cycle LIGHTS / GROUPS Select one or more lights for your thunderstorm light show on the Lights/Groups tab. Choose a group that you set up using your LIFX app, or create a new group in the Thunderstorm for LIFX app. To edit an in-app group in the list, swipe the item to the left and tap the pencil icon. When you add, remove, or change lights, pull down the list to refresh. ADDITIONAL FEATURES • Lightning on Demand — Start a storm and utilize the lightning buttons at the bottom of the screen for manual control. • Sleep Timer — Set a timer complemented with an audio fade-out feature. Choose the state of your lights after the timer ends with the Sleep End State setting. • Bluetooth and AirPlay Support — Connect to Bluetooth speakers directly, or connect to speakers with AirPlay using the Control Center. Adjust the Delay Light FX setting to offset any wireless audio delay. Please contact me at support@thunderstorm.scottdodson.dev if you experience any issues. I'd love to hear your thoughts and appreciate you taking the time to rate and review the app. I want to continue to improve Thunderstorm for LIFX and create a great experience for you and future users. Thank you! —Scott ## Key features - Customizable thunderstorm light shows - Synchronized rain and lightning effects - Adjustable rain and thunder sounds - Ambient background sound options - Control over light color and brightness - Zone control for targeted effects ## Recent user reviews (10 of 10) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thunderstorm-for-lifx/id1110240379/reviews.md ### 1/5 — Would not recommend *2025-02-24* I asked for a refund and Apple would not refund me. There is an issue with the app staying connected. It doesn’t work properly. I honest want my money back for to it. **Developer response:** Sorry to hear about the trouble connecting. Please update to the latest version and email support@thunderstorm.scottdodson.dev if you're still experiencing any issues. ### 4/5 — Good but not perfect *2023-07-25* Would be great if you could set the max brightness of the lights. Occassionally buggy but that's standard from LiFX ### 5/5 — Take all of my money. *2021-09-18* I will buy your light apps again and again and again. Thunderstorms is CHOICE. the firestorm app still needs a certain Juno se quoi BUT. Just lovely all around. Bravo Sir. Ps. Thank you for allowing me to darken the sky and keep the flashes bright. 🤍🤍🤍 ### 5/5 — Pretty cool app *2021-05-29* Works well. Thanks for the cool app. The wife likes this and she’s so sick of all my smart home devices. Request from wife - Can we have a light rain effect too? **Developer response:** Thank you! Please contact support@thunderstorm.scottdodson.dev and let me know what you'd like to see as a light rain effect. ### 5/5 — Excellent App *2020-07-31* Having used LIFX for the past three years, I’ve seen a lot of issues come and go. From lights not syncing to firmware problems, etc. I know it’s far from perfect but the developers of LIFX have strived to make it better. With that said, this app is phenomenal. It does exactly what it says it does and it does it WELL. I understand some folks may have had issues with it, but before you blame this app I’d take a look and see if your LIFX bulbs are really working the way they should. With my current setup (30+ bulbs) this app makes the whole house feel like a thunderstorm. Paired with a solid audio system and it’s the next best thing to having a real storm. Kudos to the developer for such a nice piece of software. Give it a try! **Developer response:** Thank you so much! ### 1/5 — Hue version works, but no dice with LIFX *2020-07-10* I have recessed lighting by Hue and the version of the app for that works fine. My normal lamp bulbs are LIFX and while I’m glad there’s an app that exists for LIFX (because they are superior to Hue in almost every way!), the app just doesn’t find my lights. I’ve tried everything including resetting both of my LIFX bulbs but it just doesn’t find them so this app is totally useless, along with the firestorm one because I bought the bundle. I emailed support a while back but haven’t received a response. I’d be willing to change my review if the developer actually offered some support but until then, 1 star. **Developer response:** Please make sure you connected your lights to your LIFX cloud account in the LIFX app: https://lifx.typeform.com/to/Milop4. Next, in Thunderstorm for LIFX, refresh the Lights/Groups tab by pulling down on the list. The text "Pull to refresh..." will appear and the arrow icon will spin. After you do this, tap on the light/group to update the selected light(s). I believe I responded to you on June 14 and July 10 (I can't verify your email address here). Please check your spam folder if you haven't received these emails. You can also try my email scottdodsondev@gmail.com. I'm happy to help! ### 3/5 — Good, but not $6 good. *2020-03-09* It’s an ok app. links with LIFX well enough, but stops working if you tab out of the app sometimes. The features it has are ok, but not enough to justify $6. There are only 4 options per app. This one has storm levels 1-4. Don’t know why all functions aren’t in the same app. Why separate the fire and storm features? Why not have one app with all functions? Imo. Overall, not worth the money. But I’ve bought it already and might as well use it. ### 2/5 — Too confusing and just not that good. *2020-02-27* I’ve had the app for Hue ( different developer ) for a long time and couldn’t be happier with the simplicity and experience of the app. Friends all love it when I crank the stereo and put the storm on. I bought two LIFX bulbs for my room and downloaded this app, and instantly wish i hadn’t. It’s only 3 bucks I know but plain and simple I just won’t use it because it just doesn’t meet the standard of my other app for HUE. If you’d like a cool experience I recommend buying HUE lights and download “Hue Thunderstorm” **Developer response:** Sorry to hear you don't like the app. Thunderstorm for LIFX works very similarly to Thunderstorm for Hue. There are many customization options to create the perfect storm for you but you can use the default settings and just tap one of the thunderstorms to start. Please contact me at support@thunderstorm.scottdodson.dev and let me know how the app can improve. ### 4/5 — Fantastic, but would love some added functionality *2019-05-19* The app looks and sounds brilliant, and the effect it creates with my lighting system makes for a great atmosphere. However I find whenever I play music, the rain audio cuts out and vice-versa. I was hoping to use this for D&D, so if a feature could be added to allow both audio sources to play at once that would be fantastic ### 2/5 — Good start, but needs some work *2019-04-23* In general, the app produces a pretty cool effect. There's some issues with it, though. The biggest is using the cloud API instead of the LAN API. The LIFX app uses the latter if the device is on the same network as the bulbs, which is why it responds so fast. For those of us with a lot of LIFX bulbs, this thunderstorm app causes a lot of "too many requests" errors, which could be remedied by just keeping it all local. Second, it's not terribly clear how to use groups, and even once I got that figured out, setting up colors caused some unusual responses in bulbs in the rest of the house anyway - such as the app thinking my white bulbs were set to a color. While it limited the changing effects to the specified groups, it still changed colors of all lights in my house (where possible). I confirmed that I had selected the same group in all sections of the settings. Third, the thunder sound seems a bit canned. It lacks a lot of the sonic depth a real thunder roll or lightning strike would produce. It would really put the overall storm effect to great lengths if higher end sound clips were used that had a lot of deep bass (especially for those with a sonic shaker). At present, there's very little bass. I can see that the creator went to good lengths elsewhere striving for a realistic soundscape, like placing the thunder at varying distances, or delaying the sound relative to the lightning like you'd experience in a real storm. Overall, I think the app is a great start, but could use a bit of polishing. ## Frequently asked questions about Thunderstorm for LIFX ### What is Thunderstorm for LIFX? Thunderstorm for LIFX is an application that synchronizes your LIFX smart lights with simulated thunderstorm sounds and visual effects. It allows you to create various storm intensities and customize light and sound settings. ### Does Thunderstorm for LIFX require an internet connection? Yes, an internet connection and a LIFX Cloud account are required for Thunderstorm for LIFX to function. This is necessary for controlling your LIFX lights and accessing the app's features. ### How much does Thunderstorm for LIFX cost? Thunderstorm for LIFX is a paid application, priced at $2.99. This one-time purchase grants you access to all its features for creating thunderstorm light and sound experiences. ### What devices is Thunderstorm for LIFX compatible with? Thunderstorm for LIFX is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices. It is designed to work with the iOS operating system. ### What is the age rating for Thunderstorm for LIFX? Thunderstorm for LIFX has an age rating of 12+. This indicates that the content is generally suitable for users aged 12 and older. ### How often is Thunderstorm for LIFX updated? The latest version of Thunderstorm for LIFX is 4.6.0, which was last updated on February 27, 2026. This suggests a history of updates to maintain and improve the application. ### Can I control specific lights or groups with Thunderstorm for LIFX? Yes, you can select one or more LIFX lights or groups for your thunderstorm light show. You can also create or edit groups directly within the Thunderstorm for LIFX app. ### Does Thunderstorm for LIFX have ads? No, Thunderstorm for LIFX does not contain advertisements. As a paid application, it offers an ad-free experience for its users. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 4.6.0 — 2026-02-27 Need help? Email support@thunderstorm.scottdodson.dev - added zone control for supported lights (e.g., Lightstrips, String Lights) - fixed compatibility issue ### 4.5.0 — 2025-08-20 Need help? Please email support@thunderstorm.scottdodson.dev - fixed compatibility issue ### 4.3.2 — 2022-05-30 Need help? Please email support@thunderstorm.scottdodson.dev - fixed iPad compatibility issue ### 4.3.0 — 2022-05-27 Need help? Please email support@thunderstorm.scottdodson.dev - updated Delay Lightning setting - fixed compatibility issue ### 4.2.0 — 2021-10-28 Need help? Please email support@thunderstorm.scottdodson.dev - added lightning buttons for on-demand lightning during a storm - added Rain Pulse Rate under Settings - added Lightning/Thunder Occurrence under Settings - added Passing Thunderstorms Starting Storm under Settings - added Passing Thunderstorms Cycle Time under Settings - improved tablet UI ## Apps similar to Thunderstorm for LIFX | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [SoundFonts](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soundfonts/id1453325077) | 4.4 (145) | $7.99 | Entertainment | | [Abstract 4K - Ultra HD Video](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/abstract-4k-ultra-hd-video/id1229922538) | — | $2.99 | Entertainment | | [ScottEffx flickerSong](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scotteffx-flickersong/id1662230338) | — | Free | Entertainment | | [Virtual Fireplace In HD](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/virtual-fireplace-in-hd/id1575005344) | 3.4 (8) | Free | Entertainment | | [Police Lights & Police Siren](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/police-lights-and-police-siren/id1632390697) | 4.6 (830) | Free | Entertainment | | [Crystal FX (crystalfocus)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crystal-fx-crystalfocus/id1558308960) | 4.4 (17) | Free | Entertainment | ## More apps by Scott Dodson - [Thunderstorm for Hue](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thunderstorm-for-hue/id1126491070) - [Firestorm for Hue](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/firestorm-for-hue/id1156347961) - [Firestorm for LIFX](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/firestorm-for-lifx/id1179113220) - [Thunderstorm Simulator](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thunderstorm-simulator/id1200949907) - [Soundstorm for Hue](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soundstorm-for-hue/id1230217709) All apps by Scott Dodson: https://appshunter.io/developer/1033778296 ## Related topics [litfx](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/litfx) · [lifx](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/lifx) --- *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 2026-08-27.*