Philips Hue vs Nuki Partner
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Philips Hue
Control and customize your smart lights and accessories from anywhere. Organize lights into rooms, set moods with pre-designed or custom scenes, and automate your lighting to fit your daily routine. Enhance home security with motion detection and real-time monitoring.
- Organize lights by rooms/zones
- Remote light control
- Hue scene gallery
- Home security features
- Natural light automation
- Sync lights with media
- Voice control integration
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The official Philips Hue app is the most comprehensive way to organize, control, and customize your Philips Hue smart lights and accessories. Organize your smart lights Group your lights into Rooms or Zones — your entire downstairs floor or all the lights in the living room, for example — that mirror the physical rooms in your home. Easily control your lights — from anywhere Use the app to control your lights anywhere you have an internet connection. Explore the Hue scene gallery Created by professional lighting designers, the scenes in the scene gallery can help you set the mood for any occasion. You can even create your own scenes based on a photo or your favorite colors. Set up bright home security Make your home feel safer, no matter where you are. The Security Center lets you program your Secure cameras, Secure contact sensors, and indoor motion sensors to send you alerts when they detect activity. Trigger light and sound alarms, call the authorities or a trusted contact, and monitor your home in real-time. Get the best light for any moment of the day Let your lights change automatically throughout the day with the Natural light scene — so you feel more energized, focused, relaxed, or rested at the right times. Just set the scene to watch your lights change with the sun’s movement, transitioning from cool blue tones in the morning to warmer, relaxing hues for sunset. Automate your lights Make your smart lights work around your daily routine. Whether you want your lights to gently wake you up in the morning or greet you when you get home, setting up customizable automations in the Philips Hue app is effortless. Sync your lights to TV, music, and games Make your lights flash, dance, dim, brighten, and change color in sync with your screen or sound! With the Philips Hue Play HDMI sync box, the Philips Hue Sync for TV or desktop apps, or Spotify, you can create totally immersive experiences. Set up voice control Use Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant to control your smart lights with voice commands. Turn lights on and off, dim and brighten, or even change colors — completely hands-free. Use Siri Shortcuts for quick control Use the Shortcuts app to create shortcuts that you can place into widgets on your Home Screen for even faster control of your lights. Turn lights on or off, adjust their brightness and temperature, or set scenes — all without even opening the app. Learn more about the official Philips Hue app: www.philips-hue.com/app. Read the Philips Hue Privacy Notice at www.philips-hue.com/privacy. Note: Some features in this app require a Philips Hue Bridge.
Nuki Partner
This app transforms your smartphone into a digital key for multi-party houses. It allows authorized service providers to securely open main entrance doors with a single touch. Access is managed remotely, ensuring only permitted individuals can enter.
- Smartphone as a digital key
- Open main entrance doors remotely
- Secure access control
- Manage access permissions via web interface
- Bluetooth 4.0+ compatibility
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***The keyless entry system for multi-party houses*** The most important features of the Nuki Partner app: * Turning the smartphone into a key * Opening the main entrance door of multi-party houses at the touch of a button * Secure access at all time +++ ATTENTION: This app is exclusively for registered service providers for controlling authorized Nuki Boxes +++ Are you a private individual and looking for the app to control your Nuki Smart Lock? You can find this app at “Nuki Smart Lock”. The Nuki system turns intercom systems into smart locks. Whether it’s a case of emergency or a regular service: Nuki gives service providers easy and reliable access to the property. In addition, it is ensured that only the person with the respective access permission can unlock the main entrance door. Access permissions can be allocated by a simple mouse-click via the web interface Nuki Web by the respective property management. Service providers can use the Nuki Partner App to get access to all their authorized properties. Thus, the Nuki system enables reliable and also controllable access for service providers. Requirements for using the Nuki Partner app: * Bluetooth-enabled smartphone (Bluetooth 4.0 or higher) * Access permission from the owner/manager of the building to a door equipped with the Nuki Box * Nuki Box partner access * You are not registered as a Nuki Box Partner yet? Contact us at sales@nuki.io. ---------- We look forward to hearing from you. If you have any questions, please contact us at contact@nuki.io, or visit us at https://nuki.io/en/box/.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Philips Hue at 85% against Nuki Partner's 0%. Philips Hue also leads on rating (4.7 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months). Nuki Partner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Philips Hue sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Nuki Partner asks for nothing beyond the download.
Philips Hue holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Philips Hue has 118K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Philips Hue's written reviews are positive against 0% of Nuki Partner's.
Philips Hue ships an update every 2 weeks, Nuki Partner every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Philips Hue | Nuki Partner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (118K ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.3% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 118K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 248 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Signify Netherlands B.V. | Nuki Home Solutions GmbH |
Customer experience
Philips Hue
Nuki Partner
Bugs and requests
Philips Hue
Reported bugs
5 issues- Lights not responding to app commands
- Scenes and automations not working as expected
- Frequent app crashes and freezes
- Inability to log in or sync with account
- Erratic behavior after software updates
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to control lights individually in a room
- More dynamic and customizable lighting scenes
- Seamless integration between multiple Hue bridges
- Improved automation and scheduling options
- Restore removed timer and widget functionality
Nuki Partner
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Philips Hue
- Motion Aware Monthly Plan$0.991 Month
- Sync TV-app for LG (1 Month)$2.991 Month
- Secure Basic for 1 camera$3.991 Month
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- Secure Basic for 2 cameras$7.991 Month
- Secure Plus$9.991 Month
- Motion Aware Yearly Plan$9.991 Year
- Secure Basic for 1 camera$39.991 Year
- Secure Basic for 2 cameras$79.991 Year
- Secure Plus$99.991 Year
- Sync TV-app for LG (Lifetime)$129.99
Nuki Partner
No in-app purchases









