Signals for HomeKit vs Dramatic Light Presentations
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Signals for HomeKit
Utilize your HomeKit lights for silent communication within your home. Create custom light signals to announce events, get attention, or convey messages without shouting. Ideal for families or those with hearing impairments.
- Customizable light signals
- Voice control with Siri Shortcuts
- Widget support for quick triggers
- Announce dinner time
- Alert for shower time
- Set light states after flashing
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*** Featured by Shane Whatley - "Will let you flash any of your HomeKit lights.. and either set the light back to the original state… or set it to a new state after flash. Really cool stuff!" *** Featured on 9to5Mac.com - "as a dad of three, I need less noise in our house, so I am really enjoying using Signals for HomeKit" *** Featured on iMore.com - “create tons of distinct signals that cover scenarios like announcing dinner time, or letting someone know that they are taking a little too much time in the shower.” *** Featured on AppleInsider.com - "Our favorite tips and tricks for making the most out of Apple HomeKit" *** Featured on HomeKitNews.com - "save your lungs, and get this app" *** Featured on HomeKitHero.com - "clever way to get someone’s attention in your home" Communication at home takes many forms — we want more of the dinner-time conversations, but we could do with less of the loud knocking on doors, banging on ceilings, and shouting up stairs. If you have a HomeKit home, why not take advantage of it, and use your lights to help communicate? Introducing Signals for HomeKit, the best way to communicate in the home, without all the shouting. Signals works with any of your bulbs, switches or outlets with lights attached - have a kid who plays video games with headphones on? Just tap on their light to give it a few flashes. Take it to a new level with the Signals Plus In-App Purchase, and put some meaning behind your flashes: - Create a Time to Go Signal to flash the kids bedroom lights, and then set their night lights green - A Dinner Time Signal can pulse lights in the bedrooms and the office, and then set them to blue - Even setup a “GET DOWN HERE NOW” signal, to flash the kids’ lights red, and keep them that way! Trigger your Signals in multiple ways — in the app, with your voice or automations using Siri Shortcuts, or with our beautiful Widgets! Whether you have kids, or someone in the family with a hearing disability, Signals for HomeKit can help quiet things down, and keep the conversations face to face, rather than shouted through the house. Requirements - Any HomeKit equipped light bulb, switch or outlet. Switches or outlets must be configured with a light attached. HomeKit must already be configured. - Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. iOS 15 required. Usage Notes: - If you have a bulb or switch with a slow ramp/fade rate, try shortening this rate in the manufacturers app, if the flash isn't noticeable - if this doesn't work, please let us know at https://www.homemadeautomation.com/contact-us, so we can help find a solution!
Dramatic Light Presentations
Enhance presentations with synchronized lighting and sound effects. Control smart lights from Philips Hue, LIFX, and Nanoleaf to create immersive experiences for storytelling, gaming, and live events. Import custom audio and use scene-based scripts for dynamic audiovisuals.
- Scene-based light and sound scripting
- Control Philips Hue, LIFX, Nanoleaf lights
- Over 150 pre-designed audiovisuals
- Import custom sound files
- Layered audio and lighting effects
- Full-screen mode with visual customizations
- Cloud sync and collaboration
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Transform your presentations into immersive experiences with Dramatic, the perfect app for storytellers, role-playing gamers, streamers, live shows, trivia nights, improv, community theater, and murder mystery parties. Simply connect to Philips Hue Entertainment, LIFX, or Nanoleaf Light Panels to control your lights scene-by-scene and add stunning visuals and audio sound effects to your presentations. SCENE-BASED SCRIPTS: Creating scripts of light and sound effects has never been easier with Dramatic's highly-configurable, list-based editor. Choose from over 150 professionally-designed Audiovisuals, or play any of the 100+ million tracks included with your Apple Music subscription right from the app. You can also import your own .mp3 and .wav sound files by placing them in the Dramatic folder in the Files app. LIGHTING SOUNDBOARD: Add depth and complexity to your presentations with Dramatic's ability to control up to three groups of light and audio sound effects at once. Create layered scenes by configuring ambient background audio sound and lighting effects to set the atmosphere, while playing action effects in the players' lighting zone. Individual volume and loop controls allow you to fine-tune each sound for balance and effect. STORYBOOK/FULL-SCREEN MODE: Make your presentations come to life with Dramatic's ability to add images to your scenes, creating a living storybook. Or, use full-screen mode for screen-mirroring your scripts with a variety of visual customizations and control modes to fit most use cases. COMBINE LIGHTING HARDWARE: Dramatic works with any combination of Philips Hue or LIFX lights, and Nanoleaf Light Panels. Audiovisuals and Effects are only supported with Hue Entertainment and Nanoleaf. Other lights are limited to audio and color transitions. Hue Multi-Bridge support allows you to control multiple Entertainment Areas in order to exceed the 10-light limit. BLUETOOTH REMOTES: Connect to any game controller or media remote to change scenes, manage brightness, or navigate full-screen mode. CLOUD SERVICES: With Dramatic, you can access your purchases and content from any device. Your content is safely backed up, so you'll never lose your work. You can also collaborate on scripts with others using your Dramatic Cloud account. Dramatic offers monthly and yearly subscription options. Each subscription includes: -14-day all-access free trial for new users -Full use of all of the app's Audiovisuals -Create unlimited scripts and scenes -Universal access and cloud sync -Periodic updates to support new hardware and features -Direct email technical support (I respond to every email!) Visit dramaticlights.com for support and help information. This app requires hardware from one of these vendors: - Philips Hue : meethue.com - LIFX : lifx.com - Nanoleaf Light Panels (Shapes, Canvas, Lines, Elements, Aurora) : nanoleaf.me Your purchase will be applied to your iTunes account at the end of the trial. Subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime with your iTunes account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial will be forfeited if you purchase a subscription. Terms of Use: Subscriptions and full app purchases are entitled to unlimited use of the app, cloud services, and stock audiovisual effects, including future feature and stock audiovisual updates. Premium content (such as that requiring certain licensing), if offered, is not included and may be purchased separately. Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://dramaticlights.com/terms --------------------- Hi, I'm Kevin, creator of Dramatic. I want to make sure that everyone gets a great light performance, so if you're having issues with the app send me an email at kevin@nrthrnlights.com. I'm dedicated to making a quality app that makes your presentation shine!
Screenshots
Verdict
Signals for HomeKit and Dramatic Light Presentations both sit at 4.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Dramatic Light Presentations's written reviews are positive against 36% of Signals for HomeKit's. Dramatic Light Presentations also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Signals for HomeKit's advantage is ratings volume (138 vs 3). On price, rating, 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. Signals for HomeKit sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Dramatic Light Presentations sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for Signals for HomeKit against 4.0 for Dramatic Light Presentations. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Signals for HomeKit has 138 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 36% of Signals for HomeKit's written reviews are positive against 100% of Dramatic Light Presentations's.
Signals for HomeKit ships an update every 5 weeks, Dramatic Light Presentations monthly. The most recent releases landed on August 31, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Signals for HomeKit | Dramatic Light Presentations |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (138 ratings) | 4.0 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 35.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 138 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 135 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CoreBits LLC | NRTHRNLIGHTS, LLC |
Customer experience
Signals for HomeKit
Dramatic Light Presentations
Bugs and requests
Signals for HomeKit
Reported bugs
36 issues- App becomes unresponsive
- App freezes
- Settings revert back after glitching
- Does not recognize all HomeKit lights
- Does not automate anything via the phone
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- Inconsistent results with restoring Adaptive Lighting
- Strobes in a startling way
- Lights randomly change color during signals
- End state of lights is incorrect
- App does not work with MacBook Pro
- App launch stalls at a blank screen
- Lifx lights not viewable in the app
- Flash duration doesn't update
- App does not work consistently
- App launch stalls
- Gets a no response every time
- App asks to review with every change
- App gives message of 'Looking for lights'
- Lights remain on when they should turn off
- Shortcut errors when running
- App doesn't work well
- Very long delay time
- Sometimes works, most times no
- It'll flash your lights, maybe kind of
- They may or may not return to their current state
- Sometimes they'll stay bright
- Sometimes they don't come on at all
- App is garbage
- Does not work
- No response
- Buggy and not really working
- Poor execution
- Not working. Junk
- Garbage
- Inconsistent & Unreliable
- Buggy
Requested features
33 requests- Ability to create signals based on text messages
- Support for all HomeKit lights
- Link signals into Home or personal automation
- Make setting brightness/color across all lights less tedious
- Improve strobe effect to be less startling
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- Create scenes in the Home app
- Automate via iPhone
- Unlock automations on Mac without extra purchase
- Support for HomeKit automations
- Improve free version functionality
- Provide documentation and help
- Add support for light groups
- Implement extensible features like flashing between colors
- Adjustable frequency slider for flash/strobe
- Make pulse setting less imperceptible/faster
- Fix issues with Lifx lights not showing up
- Clarify Mac compatibility before purchase
- Fix random color changes during signals
- Ensure lights turn off as intended
- Reliably restore original light state
- Improve UI and make it more intuitive
- Add sound recognition features for HomeKit
- Allow adding to HomeKit scenes
- Fix the 'Looking for lights' issue
- Add family sharing for in-app purchases
- Improve shortcuts integration for many lights
- Support for HomeKit automations when sensors trigger
- Allow flashing between a group of colors
- Make the pulse setting more functional
- Fix flash duration update issues
- Make the app free or remove fees
- Add dark mode
- Add advanced analytics dashboard
Dramatic Light Presentations
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Signals for HomeKit
- Signals Plus2 variants$4.99
- Signals Automate$8.99
- Signals Automate Plus$12.99
Dramatic Light Presentations
- Monthly All-Access$5.991 Month
- Yearly All-Access$39.991 Year
- Lifetime App Unlock$24.99
Questions
Is Signals for HomeKit free?
Is Dramatic Light Presentations free?
Which has better reviews, Signals for HomeKit or Dramatic Light Presentations?
Do Signals for HomeKit or Dramatic Light Presentations have ads?
Which is updated more often, Signals for HomeKit or Dramatic Light Presentations?
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