MagicHue vs Strobe Light
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MagicHue
Transform your Philips Hue lights into dynamic, colorful art. Enjoy relaxing fades or a vibrant music-reactive visual experience for parties or romantic dinners. Control individual lights and customize effects.
- Disco effect for Philips Hue lights
- Music and voice-reactive light effects
- Individual light control
- Brightness and saturation control
- Adjustable fading speed and light position
- Multiple bridge support
- Predefined and custom light presets
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Free for a limited time! You are looking for a new way to experience your philips hue lights? Then meet the hue app that transforms your rooms into living color art: From relaxing smooth fading to a highly dynamic visual music experience. Use it for a romantic dinner setup or your next party at home! This version features: Common functions: ◆ Switch disco bulbs on/off quick button ◆ Each light can be controlled individually ◆ Disable Auto-Lock to keep the app running ◆ Multiple Bridge Support Disco effect functions: ◆ Control any subset of lights for the disco effect ◆ Brightness and saturation control ◆ Free selectable hue (color) fading speed ◆ Selectable light position along the hue fading ◆ Microphone sensitivity can be adjusted ◆ 6 Predefined light presets plus one user defined ◆ Multiple devices can control different rooms according to local acoustic and we are working on a lot of more cool features that will be included with future updates for free! NOTES This app uses the microphone to convert music or voice input to light effects. It does not (yet) listen to music that is played on the iPhone itself. REQUIREMENTS - Requires iOS 8.1 or higher and the Philips hue kit
Strobe Light
Transform your phone into a dynamic party strobe light synchronized to music. Connect multiple devices for a synchronized light and sound experience. Create custom light shows or join public parties with live video streams and chat.
- Synchronized strobe lights
- Screen and flashlight strobes
- Personal music playlists
- Public live video parties
- Volume booster with synchronized sound
- Microphone strobe
- Tap-to-light custom shows
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FlashBeats is a mobile application for creating party strobe lights by synchronizing flashlights and smartphone’s screens. The app analyzes the rhythms of music tracks and creates an individualized strobe light show for each song. FlashBeats can sync with an unlimited number of phones to play music and watch videos simultaneously on multiple devices. FlashBeats produces disco lights based on your choice of music, creating a custom party by connecting the DJ lights and beats of hundreds of people together! With the FlashBeats app, you can create light shows at home parties, as well as at music and sporting events. FEATURES: - Synchronized Strobe Lights is our unique technology with the ability to connect an unlimited number of phones into one network and make flashing lights that match the rhythm of the music. It transforms your phone’s flashlight into a house party stroboscope or disco ball. You can also use smartphone’s screens as a color flash strobe. - Create your personal music playlist with your favorite songs and have fun with your friends. The more devices you connect, the louder and brighter your party will be! - Public Parties are live video streams with editor-curated music videos. You can join EDM, Hip-Hop, Rock, Pop or tens of other public parties depending on your mood. There are also public parties with popular local music. You can invite friends to watch together or have fun with your favorite music videos. - Volume Booster (with synchronized sound) - invite friends to your rave party or any public parties and create a speaker booster! The audio and video will be synced with all connected devices to create a sound amplifier effect (available only for YouTube). - Chat with friends and people all over the world. Every public party has a group chat that you can join. Meet new people and have fun together! - Tap-to-Light (paid option). Do you want to create your own personal lightshow? Just do it! You can create one without music or choose any song from the catalog as background music. And, of course, you can invite your friends to your show and have fun together. Here's an idea - why not support your favorite sports team at the stadium with an amazing strobe light chant? - Microphone Strobe (paid option). The app can listen to the ambient music and create flashing lights based on the music rhythm. Sound like magic? Yes! This is tech magic! You can use this feature everywhere: at home, at a disco club or even at an open-air concert. - Party Leaderboard is a worldwide championship for the biggest party of FlashBeats’ fans. How many friends can you invite to your private party? Let’s find out! CAUTION! Blinding bright LED strobe lights may be harmful to the eyesight, and for some people, it might cause epileptic seizures! Oh, you are still reading this? We didn’t think anyone would get this far. That means you must really like the FlashBeats app! Why not download FlashBeats and have a party today! BTW, we can also create incredible light shows at any music or sporting event, where we can connect everyone's smartphones for a fun and engaging experience for fans. Some of the things we can do include: launching a light wave, synchronizing light beats to the music, displaying a dance of light during a goal or at a runner's starting line, and displaying sponsor's logos, images and even cartoons. If you are interested in setting up a light show for your event, please contact us at: support@flashbeats.app Enjoy your favorite music with your friends in a bright new way! Download the FlashBeats app today! MORE INFORMATION: Terms of use: https://flashbeats.app/terms-of-use/ Privacy policy: https://flashbeats.app/privacy-policy/ Contact: support@flashbeats.app
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Strobe Light at 4.4 against MagicHue's 3.4. Strobe Light also leads on ratings volume (3.8K vs 25). MagicHue's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, 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. Strobe Light sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. MagicHue asks for nothing beyond the download.
Strobe Light holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Strobe Light has 3.8K ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of MagicHue's written reviews are positive against 45% of Strobe Light's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
MagicHue ships an update every 2 months, Strobe Light monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MagicHue | Strobe Light |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (25 ratings) | 4.4 (3.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 49.6% of reviews — better | 44.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 25 | 3.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Peter Breitling | Roman Kirihetov |
Customer experience
MagicHue
Strobe Light
User reviews
MagicHue
From 25 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✨ Fantastic disco sync
- 🎶 Music synchronization works well
- 💡 Great for parties
- 🚀 Fast color changes
- 👍 Easy setup
Room to improve
- 🐛 Does not respond to music
- 🐛 Cycles colors endlessly
- 🐛 No longer shows connected lights
- 🐛 Doesn't work at all
- 🐛 Complex setup and UI
Strobe Light
From 3.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💡 Innovative concept
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🎉 Great for parties and events
- 🎵 Syncs well with music
Room to improve
- 🔒 Requires subscription to access full features
- 🐛 Crashes and glitches reported
- 🔋 Battery drain issues
- 💸 Expensive subscription model
Bugs and requests
MagicHue
Reported bugs
53 issues- Only shows 0 connected lights
- No longer works
- Doesn't work at all
- App crashes
- Disco effect does nothing
Show 48 moreShow fewer
- Requires a URL
- Found bridge but no lights
- Bridge connection shows yellow
- Doesn't appear to work with a v2 bridge
- Doesn't find all bulbs
- Only found bulbs originally paired to bridge
- App just does not work at all
- Cannot find the bridge
- Doesn't find any of my lights
- Complex and sometimes it doesn't work
- Rubbish doesn't work useless
- App doesn't work
- Only finds 2 of my 23 bulbs
- Doesn't connect to Bridge hue
- Can't get past first page of 'select bridge'
- Can't just start with a scene from the main Hue app
- Can't use feed from iTunes directly
- Can't seem to quit the app
- Color changes only brightness
- Doesn't allow you to play music while running
- Amateur
- Only got this app to work once
- New version constantly crashes
- Crashes after 2 mins
- Constantly crashes
- Crashes after running for a few minutes or with several lights
- App quickly freezes
- iPad becomes completely disabled and a reboot is necessary
- App goes berserk if more than 8 bulbs are activated
- Causes really bad audio feedback on iPad2
- Won't pair
- Poorly written
- Documentation stinks
- Layout buttons and interface is embarrassing
- Can't seem to find a good way to turn off completely
- When I think I have done it and then open my Philips Hue it goe right back to Disco
- Not what you are looking for
- Can't get light to work
- Constant crashing
- Crashes after about 2 minutes running in disco mode
- Baffling
- No noticeable improvements
- Freezes iPad less with update
- Still goes berserk if more than 8 bulbs are activated
- Equalizer bar issue (corrected)
- Bad audio feedback on iPad2
- Won't pair
- Looks Awful
Requested features
17 requests- Pickup music from the same phone
- Strobe like features
- Ability to select a range of colors to cycle through
- More control of which colors it cycles through
- Update for Hue Bridge 2.0 with HomeKit support
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- Ability to play music while running
- More user inputs in color selections
- Strobe button with presets and custom options
- Wave feature moving colors from bulb to bulb
- Interface overhaul for general usability
- Timers added
- More flexibility and control over lights
- Less crashes
- Ability to select specific colors
- Recurring timers
- Sync to turn on lights based on sunset times
- Timed fade to work
Strobe Light
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes when trying to play songs
- Lights not syncing properly with music
- Subscription issues and inability to cancel
Requested features
4 requests- Allow users to add their own music
- Improve sync between lights and music
- Introduce free version with limited features
- Provide better subscription management
In-app purchases
MagicHue
No in-app purchases
Strobe Light
- FlashBeats Pro - Strobe Light3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- FlashBeats Pro - Strobe Light3 Days trial$24.996 Months
- Strobe Light PRO3 Days trial$39.991 Year
- FlashBeats Pro - Strobe Light$6.99
- FlashBeats Pro - Strobe Light$26.99
- FlashBeats Pro$39.99
Questions
Is MagicHue free?
Is Strobe Light free?
Which has better reviews, MagicHue or Strobe Light?
Do MagicHue or Strobe Light have ads?
Which is updated more often, MagicHue or Strobe Light?
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