Comparison

Hue Lights vs Creative

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

Creative

Enhance your product's audio performance and personalize sound settings. Manage audio configurations, change sound modes, and set up speakers. Some features may vary by product.

Highlights
  • Manage Super X-Fi setup
  • Change sound modes
  • Configure custom buttons
  • Speaker setup and calibration
Features
Read full description

Creative app provides you with various configuration options to enhance the performance of your product and personalize your audio settings. With Creative app, you can: - Manage your Super X-Fi setup - Change sound modes - Configure the custom buttons - Perform speaker setup and calibration Note: - Some features may not be available for all products. Please check your manual for details. - To enjoy the complete experience of Super X-Fi, please download the SXFI App.

Screenshots

Hue Lights4 screens
Creative4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Hue Lights at 4.1 against Creative's 2.2. Hue Lights also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (46% vs 12%). Creative's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). On price 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. Creative asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hue Lights holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hue Lights has 393 ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Hue Lights's written reviews are positive against 12% of Creative's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hue Lights ships an update every 5 months, Creative every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Hue Lights versus Creative: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHue LightsCreative
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (393 ratings) — better2.2 (34 ratings)
Positive reviews45.7% of reviews — better12.2% of reviews
Number of ratings393 — better34
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB154 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLapApps, LLCCreative Labs Pte. Ltd.

Customer experience

Hue Lights

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

Creative

All ratings34 ratings
Positive29.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative64.7%
Written reviews147 reviews
Positive12.2%
Neutral5.4%
Negative82.3%

User reviews

Hue Lights

From 393 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great app for controlling Hue lights
  • 👍 Excellent functionality and customization
  • 💡 Helpful for connecting older Hue bulbs
  • 🚀 Touchlink feature works well
  • 👍 Responsive and helpful developer support

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and unreliable after updates
  • 👎 Complicated and unintuitive user interface
  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases required
  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with newer Hue bridges
  • 👎 Scenes and schedules not working as expected

Creative

From 34 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great sound quality
  • 🚀 Smooth app performance
  • 💡 Customizable EQ and settings

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent connection issues
  • 🔍 Poor device compatibility
  • 🤔 Confusing or missing features

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

Creative

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes or freezes
  • Firmware upgrade failures
  • Settings not saving properly

Requested features

3 requests
  • Support for more Creative devices
  • Improved Mac/iOS compatibility
  • Enhanced EQ and sound customization options

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

Creative

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hue Lights free?
Hue Lights is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Creative free?
Creative is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hue Lights or Creative?
Hue Lights is rated higher. Hue Lights averages 4.1 out of 5 from 393 ratings, while Creative averages 2.2 from 34 ratings.
Do Hue Lights or Creative have ads?
Creative shows ads; Hue Lights does not.
Which is updated more often, Hue Lights or Creative?
Hue Lights ships an update every 5 months, and Creative every 2 months. Most recently, Hue Lights was updated on September 28, 2026 and Creative on September 9, 2026.

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