# emblazee vs Hue Essentials

The clearest difference is price: Hue Essentials at Free against emblazee's $0.99. Hue Essentials also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 7 months) and rating (4.2 vs 3.9). emblazee's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 37%) and in-app purchases (none vs 8). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Hue Essentials is free to download; emblazee costs $0.99 up front. Hue Essentials sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. emblazee asks for nothing beyond the download.

Hue Essentials holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hue Essentials has 138 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of emblazee's written reviews are positive against 37% of Hue Essentials's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

emblazee ships an update every 7 months, Hue Essentials every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | emblazee | Hue Essentials |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $0.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [3.9 (8 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/emblazee/id1050084470/reviews) | **[4.2 (138 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hue-essentials/id1462943921/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 8 | **138** |
| Positive reviews | **75.0% of reviews** | 37.2% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | **Every 2 weeks** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Freemium** |
| Size | 32 MB | 271 MB |
| Requires iOS | **9.0** | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Marcel Dittmann](https://appshunter.io/developer/926474087) | [Thomas Vos](https://appshunter.io/developer/1462943920) |

## What reviewers say

### emblazee

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/emblazee/id1050084470)

Control your HomeKit compatible lights from your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Organize your lights into homes, rooms, zones, and groups, and create custom scenes. Automate your lighting with time-based triggers and voice commands via Siri.

**Highlights:** HomeKit light control, Create rooms, zones, and groups, Custom scene creation, Time-based scene triggers, Siri voice commands, Apple Watch support

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Apple Watch app

**In-app purchases:** none


### Hue Essentials

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hue-essentials/id1462943921)

Unlock the full potential of your smart lighting system. Create custom scenes, dynamic effects, and automate your lights with schedules and triggers. Control multiple smart home bridges and devices seamlessly for a personalized ambiance.

**Highlights:** Custom scenes and effects, Music and entertainment sync, Sunrise/sunset automation, Multi-bridge control, Device discovery and setup, Button and sensor automation, Away from home control

**Features:** Family Sharing, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (8)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Effects: Christmas | $0.99 | one-time |
| Effects: Universe | $0.99 | one-time |
| Effects: Wonders of nature | $0.99 | one-time |
| Effects: Romantic | $0.99 | one-time |
| Effects: Floral fantasy | $0.99 | one-time |
| Effects: Spooky | $0.99 | one-time |
| Multiple bridges | $4.99 | one-time |
| Premium | $7.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Excellent Hue lighting control
- 👍 Works well with multiple bridges
- 💡 Customizable remote controls
- 🚀 Faster than official Hue app

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
- 🔒 In-app purchases required for key features
- 👎 Poor execution and user experience
- 🔋 Widgets and Apple Watch app not working

**Reported bugs**

- Fade feature not working
- Saving automations not working
- Crashes when checking 'About' section
- Widgets and Apple Watch app issues

**Requested features**

- Repeat/loop function for automations
- Strobing/flashing effects
- Dark mode
- Alexa integration


## Frequently asked questions

### Is emblazee free?

emblazee costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Hue Essentials free?

Hue Essentials is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, emblazee or Hue Essentials?

Hue Essentials is rated higher. emblazee averages 3.9 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Hue Essentials averages 4.2 from 138 ratings.

### Do emblazee or Hue Essentials have ads?

Neither emblazee nor Hue Essentials shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, emblazee or Hue Essentials?

emblazee ships an update every 7 months, and Hue Essentials every 2 weeks. Most recently, emblazee was updated on September 23, 2026 and Hue Essentials on October 3, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*