Hao Deng vs URC Mobile 2.5
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hao Deng
Effortlessly manage your smart LED lights with a vast array of color and brightness options. Create custom scenes, group bulbs by room, and utilize security or wake-up lighting features. Sync lights to music or ambient room colors for a dynamic experience.
- 16 million color choices
- Brightness control
- Customizable scenes
- Multi-room grouping
- Security lighting timers
- Wake-up/turn-down lighting
- Music sync (MIC mode)
- Camera color detection
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Controlling your smart LED has never been easier. 16 million amazing color choices, coolwhite or warmwhite, or many other tones in between. Select any color you want, vary the brightness, store favorite scenes, or choose one of the preset color sequences. MULTI-ROOM / MULTI-SCENE Control the bulbs individually, or group them together. Create individual moods for different rooms. Full control, at your finger tip. SECURITY LIGHTING Going out of town? Set the smart LED to come on and off at certain times, and no one will know you are away. Set individual timers for daily, weekdays, weekends, or specific days. PERFECT WAKE-UP or TURN-DOWN LIGHTING Setup the smart LED to gently turn on the room lighting in the morning, or reduce brightness in the evenings. Perfect way to start the day or settle into the evening. PARTY TOOL Having a party? Set the device to MIC mode, where it’ll listen to the surrounding music and change colors to match the beat. Want lighting to match the color of the room? Easy, use the camera from the APP to detect the surrounding color, which then auto-updates the LED device to matching colors. SHARE Have you created the perfect scene using your lights? Have multiple users at home? No problem, use the email to share devices with other members of your household. SECURE Setup passwords to ensure only authorized persons have access to your smart lighting network.
URC Mobile 2.5
Transform your smartphone or tablet into a powerful handheld controller for your home automation system. Effortlessly manage entertainment, lighting, security, and climate control from any location. Enjoy secure and intuitive control with a swipe, tap, or rotation.
- Smartphone/tablet as handheld controller
- Control entertainment, lights, security, thermostats
- Remote access from anywhere in the world
- Access multiple home locations
- Secure and intuitive control interface
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Leverage the power of your smartphone or tablet by turning it in to an amazing handheld controller for your URC® Total Control® 2 home automation system. Right from your mobile device easily control and monitor things such as entertainment, lights, security systems, thermostats and more in fast, new ways. Swipe, tap and rotate your way to securely control your equipment! This app gives you full control of all the features and full functionality afforded by a Total Control 2 system installation and more from multiple locations! Your main home and your vacation home can all be accessed from within one app. This version of URC Mobile requires a Wi-Fi connection to the local area network that is host to the Master Base Station / Central Processor and other system devices. Control is possible within the home or from anywhere in the world where internet or cell phone access is available. PLEASE NOTE: An installed Total Control 2 system is required to enjoy and access the features above. A new app installation or reset of the app requires the iOS device to be on-site with the Total Control Base Station. For more information please visit: https://www.urc-automation.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: URC Mobile 2.5 at 3.4 against Hao Deng's 2.7. Hao Deng's advantage is review sentiment (36% vs 25%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
URC Mobile 2.5 holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 83 and 145 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 36% of Hao Deng's written reviews are positive against 25% of URC Mobile 2.5's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Hao Deng ships an update every 2 months, URC Mobile 2.5 every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on November 2, 2026.
| Parameter | Hao Deng | URC Mobile 2.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.7 (83 ratings) | 3.4 (145 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 36.5% of reviews — better | 24.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 83 | 145 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 83 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JM Zengge Co., Ltd | Universal Remote Control |
Customer experience
Hao Deng
URC Mobile 2.5
Bugs and requests
Hao Deng
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
URC Mobile 2.5
Reported bugs
75 issues- Never stays connected
- Always have to restart and reinstall
- System cannot be found
- Problem reappears
- Intermittent, some days it works
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- Clunky, unoptimized app
- Does not connect well
- Looks like app hasn't been updated
- Not working for iPhone
- Unable to access features
- Latest version buggy
- App opens 4-5 times
- Not very responsive
- Controls open delayed
- React slowly
- Frequent connection issues
- Completely useless 95% of the time
- Very buggy
- Always gives an error
- Try again does nothing
- Stopped working with latest Apple update
- Screen freezes, doesn't respond
- Unreliable, rarely works first time
- Screen never shuts down
- Stops phone from sleeping
- Problem on home screen
- Unexpected response from base station
- Horrible system, breaks down constantly
- Brutal, crashes all the time
- Not intuitive
- Glitch or failure
- Super glitchy
- Screens change without prompting
- Crashes constantly
- Poorly programmed
- System not updated often enough
- Not working with iOS 16
- Freezes often
- Not just one screen, all of them
- App auto closes
- Needs work
- Cannot see all devices on iOS
- Delays
- Frequent rebooting of the app
- Dimming light switches don't cooperate
- Terrible, has to be reset every day
- Once happy, now cannot recommend
- Discontinued media streaming device
- Amp out of warranty
- App only good for on/off
- System not found error
- System Update error
- Rendered whole system unusable
- Error messages all over the place
- Unresponsive and useless
- Cannot change volume
- App crashes every 5-7 mins
- So 2010, clunky connecting
- Awful app
- Worst app ever
- Loses connection every night
- Worse system EVER
- Highly unstable
- Do not buy URC
- Frustrated for ever
- Not managed to make it work
- Buttons do not work
- Bad, won't start
- Slow and unresponsive
- Graphics are old school
- Worst customer service
- Terrible, clunky, not user friendly
- Many bugs
- Needs testing and polish
- Lutron and Sonos interfaces unusable
Requested features
5 requests- Widgets
- Siri Shortcuts
- Add own images
- See Doorbird from mobile app
- Change background without service call
In-app purchases
Hao Deng
No in-app purchases
URC Mobile 2.5
No in-app purchases
