Comparison

IKEA Home smart 1 vs Hue Essentials

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

IKEA Home smart 1

Control your home's lighting, blinds, audio, and air quality with customizable scenes and voice commands. Set schedules for different times of day to automate your environment.

Highlights
  • Control lights (dim, color, temperature)
  • Adjust blinds (raise, lower, position)
  • Manage audio (play, pause, volume)
  • Control air purifier
  • Create custom lighting and audio scenes
  • Set timers for morning and evening
Features
Read full description

The IKEA Home smart 1 app supports the TRÅDFRI gateway and older range of smart products by IKEA. We are no longer actively improving this app, however existing features and products already connected to a TRÅDFRI gateway will continue to function as usual. Smart products by IKEA continue to evolve and the new range uses Matter technology. The TRÅDFRI gateway and IKEA Home smart 1 app are not compatible with Matter, so we recommend the DIRIGERA hub and IKEA Home smart app instead.  It’s easy with the IKEA Home smart 1 app and TRÅDFRI gateway. Use one setting for early morning lighting and music, another for late evenings and a third for cooking or working at home. You can dim, turn off, turn on, change colours and switch from warm to cold light. Raise or lower blinds. Turn on your music – then turn it up, turn it down or pause it. And you can even control your air purifier to improve the air quality at home. With the IKEA Home smart 1 app, you can also connect to Apple Home, Amazon Alexa or Google Home and control it all with your voice. What you’ll get with the IKEA Home smart 1 app and TRÅDFRI gateway: • The ability to control your lights and blinds from the app • The ability to turn audio on and off, pause it and control volume • Customisable settings, including changing the position of blinds, light colours and choosing warm or cold light • Timers with morning and evening options • The ability to turn your air purifier on and off, and set it to a fan speed that suits the needs of your home

About

Hue Essentials

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
Read full description

Imagine unlimited possibilities in your smart home. Set scenes and fast effects to your mood. Experience Dance Sensation in your entertainment area with Philips Hue Entertainment. Feel more in control with schedules and automation from sunrise to sunset. Control multiple bridges simultaneously without switching between them. Supported devices • Philips Hue bridge • Philips Hue Bluetooth lights • deCONZ (ConBee) • diyHue • LIFX Scenes & effects Create the perfect ambiance from your photos or the included photo library. Experience special animations like lava, fireplace, fireworks, or lightning. Wake up at sunrise and go to sleep at sunset with fading lights. Get into the party on the beats of your music. Sync your lights for a night of disco with strobe effects (updates 25 times/sec). Quick access Create rooms and groups to organize your lights. You can even put a light in several groups. Smart lights & controls The unique ‘Touchlink’ search allows you to find new (3rd party, Zigbee) lights. Use included wizards for easy setup of your devices. You can set scenes, actions, or even multiple scenes on a button to make your switch a real investment. Experience the right ambiance during different times of your day with your motion sensor. All of your creations are stored on the bridge. Easy for you and your family. Advanced Automation allows you to have greater control of your smart home. Turn on your lights when the door opens. Adjust your ventilation when the humidity gets too high. Open or close blinds and curtains based on temperature or sunshine. Make it look like you are at home using 'Away from Home' (out of home control). Communicate directly with your Hue bridge using the API debugger. View technical details of your Hue bridge and update its resources like lights and sensors. You want it all? Fast performance with ad-free experience. Purchase the premium version to unlock full content.

Screenshots

IKEA Home smart 14 screens
Hue Essentials4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: IKEA Home smart 1 at none against Hue Essentials's 8. IKEA Home smart 1 also leads on ratings volume (3.5K vs 138). Hue Essentials's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (38% vs 24%). On price, rating, ads and iOS requirement 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Hue Essentials sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. IKEA Home smart 1 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for IKEA Home smart 1 against 4.2 for Hue Essentials. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: IKEA Home smart 1 has 3.5K ratings behind it against 138, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 24% of IKEA Home smart 1's written reviews are positive against 38% of Hue Essentials's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

IKEA Home smart 1 ships an update every 2 months, Hue Essentials every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
IKEA Home smart 1 versus Hue Essentials: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIKEA Home smart 1Hue Essentials
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (3.5K ratings)4.2 (138 ratings)
Positive reviews24.3% of reviews37.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.5K — better138
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size136 MB271 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperInter IKEA Systems B.V.Thomas Vos

Customer experience

IKEA Home smart 1

All ratings3,548 ratings
Positive78.7%
Neutral6.0%
Negative15.3%
Written reviews367 reviews
Positive24.3%
Neutral15.5%
Negative60.2%

Hue Essentials

All ratings138 ratings
Positive77.5%
Neutral7.2%
Negative15.2%
Written reviews241 reviews
Positive37.8%
Neutral8.3%
Negative53.9%

User reviews

IKEA Home smart 1

From 3.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Cheap and affordable
  • 🔒 Secure local network communication
  • 👍 Easy to set up and use
  • 🚀 Works well once connected

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy app with frequent crashes
  • 🐛 Connectivity issues, devices randomly disconnecting
  • 🐛 Unreliable timers and scheduling
  • 🐛 Poor integration with other smart home platforms
  • 🐛 Unintuitive user interface and navigation

Hue Essentials

From 138 App Store ratings

What we love

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

Room to improve

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

Bugs and requests

IKEA Home smart 1

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App constantly asking to add new devices even when none are added
  • Devices disappearing from the app and needing to be re-added
  • Timers not working as expected, turning lights on/off at incorrect times
  • Inability to move devices between rooms in the app
  • Pairing issues with remotes and other accessories

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for more color temperatures and full color spectrum
  • Improve timer functionality with more granular controls
  • Implement remote access and out-of-home control
  • Add support for user profiles and device sharing
  • Improve integration with popular smart home platforms like HomeKit and Google Home

Hue Essentials

Reported bugs

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

Requested features

4 requests
  • Repeat/loop function for automations
  • Strobing/flashing effects
  • Dark mode
  • Alexa integration

In-app purchases

None

IKEA Home smart 1

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

Hue Essentials

One-time8
  • Effects: Christmas$0.99
  • Effects: Universe$0.99
  • Effects: Wonders of nature$0.99
Show 5 more
  • Effects: Romantic$0.99
  • Effects: Floral fantasy$0.99
  • Effects: Spooky$0.99
  • Multiple bridges$4.99
  • Premium$7.99

Questions

Is IKEA Home smart 1 free?
IKEA Home smart 1 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hue Essentials free?
Hue Essentials is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, IKEA Home smart 1 or Hue Essentials?
IKEA Home smart 1 and Hue Essentials are both rated 4.2 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3.5K and 138 ratings respectively.
Do IKEA Home smart 1 or Hue Essentials have ads?
Neither IKEA Home smart 1 nor Hue Essentials shows ads.
Which is updated more often, IKEA Home smart 1 or Hue Essentials?
IKEA Home smart 1 ships an update every 2 months, and Hue Essentials every 2 weeks. Most recently, IKEA Home smart 1 was updated on October 20, 2026 and Hue Essentials on October 20, 2026.

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