Comparison

Hue Lights vs Hao Deng

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

Head to head
About

Hue Lights

Unlock advanced control for your smart lights. Create custom scenes, schedules, and dynamic lighting effects. Enhance your home ambiance with unique features like simulated weather and fire.

Highlights
  • Precise lighting control
  • Multi-room scenes
  • Customizable schedules
  • Dynamic lighting effects
  • Hue sensor and switch configuration
  • Apple Watch integration
  • In-app purchase for special effects
Features
Read full description

Hue Lights offers full feature support for all of your smart lighting needs: Precise control, multi-room scenes, schedules, sequences, dynamic lighting, and special effects. Create advanced configurations for your Hue motion sensor, Hue dimmer switch or Hue Tap. Check out our sample videos and FAQ at https://huelights.com. Teach your lights new tricks with Hue Lights! Completely customize each button on your Hue dimmer switch or Hue Tap. Control 8 scenes from a single Hue dimmer switch, change brightness speeds, or select groups based on duration of button press. Hue Lights leverages the latest firmware to store scene details directly on the bridge. You can view and edit shared scenes from any device on your network. The UI offers improved visual feedback and easier on/off/brightness controls directly from the home screen. Try the sequences feature to see amazing possibilities at your fingertips. Use your Apple Watch to activate scenes, adjust group brightness and trigger alerts. Escape to the beach with soothing ocean, lake, or creek sounds while your lights gently change and dim (Water In-App purchase). Experience amazing thunderstorms (In-App purchase) with customized controls for lightning strikes, rain density, bird songs, wind speed, sleep timer, brightness and sky color! Simulate realistic fires (In-App purchase) with dedicated controls for fire type, fire size, flare-ups and brightness. If you have any problems with previous In-App purchases, tap "Restore." Please see the comprehensive FAQ and documentation at https://huelights.com for App help. The free version allows control of lights 1 and 2. In-App purchases can unlock all lights and special effects. Hue Lights brings you shared scenes and groups, comprehensive scheduling, sequences and powerful light controls. Create multiple "On" and "Off" schedules per scene. Tap a row to select a light, group, or scene. Use quick controls at the bottom of the screen. Long press a row for quick actions (on, choose color, edit, off). Save scenes from any third-party app and use Hue Lights to activate these on your Apple Watch. Dynamically animate or schedule any scene from third-party apps. All screens are optimized for your favorite iOS devices in portrait and landscape mode. Hue Lights works well with any third-party app that saves scenes or schedules on the bridge. Do you have a favorite scene from another app that you use frequently? With Hue Lights you can turn this scene on or off with one tap! Hue Lights will show every schedule saved on your bridge from any app and give you the option to disable or remove unwanted schedules. Features: • Interactive widgets • Fire and candle effects • Light and group timers • Remote control • Hue motion sensor support • Hue dimmer switch/Hue Tap support • Sunrise/sunset actions • View/edit scenes and schedules on bridge • View/delete rules and sensors • See exact watts used on supported lights • 3D Touch on app icon • TouchLink for finding lost bulbs • Sequences • Apple Watch support • Dynamic animations • Scene themes • Supports multiple third-party ZigBee lights • Light, group and scene schedules • Tap bulb image to apply a favorite color • Localized VoiceOver support • Heuristics for working around common errors • Create transition times up to 90 minutes • Designed to work well with 50+ light deployments Experience multi-track, synchronized and visually appealing light animations and sequences. Requires "Hue Personal Wireless Lighting Starter Set" to operate. "Hue Personal Wireless Lighting" is a trademark owned by Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., see www.meethue.com for more information. LapApps, LLC is in no way affiliated with the Philips organization. Follow @HueLights on X and like our Facebook page for the latest news and updates. See https://huelights.com for more documentation and supported hardware.

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

Screenshots

Hue Lights4 screens
Hao Deng3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Hue Lights at 4.1 against Hao Deng's 2.7. Hue Lights also leads on ratings volume (464 vs 83) and review sentiment (45% vs 36%). Hao Deng's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). On price, ads and device support 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 Lights sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Hao Deng asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hue Lights holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hue Lights has 464 ratings behind it against 83, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Hue Lights's written reviews are positive against 36% of Hao Deng's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hue Lights ships an update every 5 months, Hao Deng every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Hue Lights versus Hao Deng: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHue LightsHao Deng
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (464 ratings) — better2.7 (83 ratings)
Positive reviews45.2% of reviews — better36.5% of reviews
Number of ratings464 — better83
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLapApps, LLCJM Zengge Co., Ltd

Customer experience

Hue Lights

All ratings132 ratings
Positive47.0%
Neutral7.6%
Negative45.5%
Written reviews219 reviews
Positive45.2%
Neutral8.7%
Negative46.1%

Hao Deng

All ratings83 ratings
Positive38.6%
Neutral6.0%
Negative55.4%
Written reviews85 reviews
Positive36.5%
Neutral7.1%
Negative56.5%

Bugs and requests

Hue Lights

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Lights not responding to commands
  • Scenes not loading or activating properly
  • Frequent crashes and connection issues
  • Unexpected changes to light groups and settings

Requested features

4 requests
  • Alexa/Siri integration and voice control
  • Ability to run effects/animations in the background
  • More customization options for sunrise/sunset scenes
  • Better widget and Apple Watch support

Hao Deng

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Hue Lights

One-time9
  • Unlock 100 ScenesFree
  • Thunderstorm$1.99
  • Fire$1.99
Show 6 more
  • Water$1.99
  • Perfect Sunrise$1.99
  • Richer Colors and Scenes$1.99
  • Premium Actions$1.99
  • Premium Sequences$1.99
  • Unlock 48 Lights$4.99
None

Hao Deng

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hue Lights free?
Hue Lights is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hao Deng free?
Hao Deng is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hue Lights or Hao Deng?
Hue Lights is rated higher. Hue Lights averages 4.1 out of 5 from 464 ratings, while Hao Deng averages 2.7 from 83 ratings.
Do Hue Lights or Hao Deng have ads?
Neither Hue Lights nor Hao Deng shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hue Lights or Hao Deng?
Hue Lights ships an update every 5 months, and Hao Deng every 2 months. Most recently, Hue Lights was updated on October 26, 2026 and Hao Deng on October 26, 2026.

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