# IKEA Home smart 1 vs Hue Essentials

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 29%). On price, rating, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

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: 29% of IKEA Home smart 1's written reviews are positive against 38% of Hue Essentials's.

IKEA Home smart 1 ships an update every 2 months, Hue Essentials every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | IKEA Home smart 1 | Hue Essentials |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.2 (3.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ikea-home-smart-1/id1195836071/reviews) | [4.2 (138 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hue-essentials/id1462943921/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **3.5K** | 138 |
| Positive reviews | 29.4% of reviews | **37.8% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 2 weeks** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Freemium |
| Size | 136 MB | 271 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Inter IKEA Systems B.V.](https://appshunter.io/developer/339722471) | [Thomas Vos](https://appshunter.io/developer/1462943920) |

## What reviewers say

### IKEA Home smart 1

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ikea-home-smart-1/id1195836071)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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

[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 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 21, 2026 and Hue Essentials on October 20, 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.*