Philips Hue vs Active Era
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 lighting system from anywhere. Organize lights by room, create custom scenes, and automate your lighting to match your daily routine or enhance security. Sync lights with media for immersive experiences.
- Organize lights into rooms and zones
- Remote control from anywhere
- Explore and create custom lighting scenes
- Home security features with sensors
- Automate lighting schedules
- Sync lights with TV, music, and games
- 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.
Active Era
This app syncs with smart scales to provide comprehensive body composition analysis. Track key metrics like weight, BMI, and body fat with visual charts and trends. Share your progress easily and manage multiple user profiles.
- Body composition analysis
- Weight, BMI, body fat tracking
- Progress charts and trends
- Data sharing via email/messaging
- Multiple user profiles
- Apple Health integration
- Fitbit app integration
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Apple App Store Description: Sync the Active Era app with your Active Era Smart Scales for a complete body composition insight. Monitor your essential measurements including weight, BMI, body fat, body water, bone mass, protein percentage and more. Track your progress over time with easy-to-read charts, view trends and make improvements to achieve your goals. Easily share your data with a friend or personal trainer via email or your favourite messaging app. Add up to 24 user profiles per app account. Seamlessly integrates with Apple Health and the Fitbit app. Requires iOS 8.0 or above.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Philips Hue at 85% against Active Era's 15%. Philips Hue also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.2) and ratings volume (117K vs 5). Active Era's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (8.0 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. Active Era asks for nothing beyond the download.
Philips Hue holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Philips Hue has 117K ratings behind it against 5, 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 15% of Active Era's.
Philips Hue ships an update every 2 weeks, Active Era every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Philips Hue | Active Era |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (117K ratings) — better | 3.2 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.2% of reviews — better | 15.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 117K — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #172 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 247 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Signify Netherlands B.V. | One Retail Group |
Customer experience
Philips Hue
Active Era
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
Active Era
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
Active Era
No in-app purchases









