Comparison

Hue Lights vs Dramatic

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

Dramatic

Enhance tabletop games, stories, and events with synchronized smart lights, music, and sound effects. Plan and control immersive audiovisual scenes to build atmosphere and bring narratives to life.

Highlights
  • Synchronized smart lighting control (Philips Hue, LIFX, Nanoleaf)
  • Integrated soundboard with custom audio import
  • Scene planning with acts and scenes
  • Over 150 stock audiovisual effects
  • Bluetooth controller support for playback
  • Full-screen mode and screen mirroring
Features
Read full description

Create immersive scenes with your Philips Hue, LIFX, and Nanoleaf lights. Dramatic Lights combines smart lighting, music, and a soundboard to bring atmosphere to tabletop games, stories, presentations, and live events. Build suspense with background ambience. Change the mood with color. Bring in a sound effect at just the right moment. You decide what happens next. PLAN YOUR SCENES Organize your script into acts and scenes, ready to play when you are. Choose from over 150 stock audiovisual effects, add music from your Apple Music subscription, or import your own .mp3 and .wav files through the Files app. BUILD THE ATMOSPHERE Combine Philips Hue, LIFX, and Nanoleaf lights in your setup. Layer background ambience with action effects and scene colors. Control up to three zones at once, with individual volume and audio loop settings, to give different parts of your space their own role in the story. STAY IN CONTROL Move through your scenes and control playback with a Bluetooth game controller or media remote. Add images to create a living storybook, and use full-screen mode and screen mirroring to share the visuals with your audience. MAKE IT YOUR OWN Create an atmosphere for tabletop role-playing games, murder mystery parties, trivia nights, presentations, livestreams, improv, community theater, and live performances. Build a script around your event and advance the action at your own pace. CONNECT YOUR SMART LIGHTS Works with Philips Hue, LIFX, and Nanoleaf. Use Hue Entertainment areas, positioned LIFX lights, or compatible Nanoleaf devices for advanced lighting effects and audiovisuals. Other selected lights support simple color transitions. Connect multiple Hue bridges for larger setups. ONE PURCHASE. NO SUBSCRIPTION. Unlock unlimited scripts and scenes, the full stock sound and audiovisual library, more light connections, and cloud sync and backup. Future app features and stock content updates are included. Sign in to access your purchases and content across devices and collaborate on scripts. Compatible lighting hardware is required. An Apple Music subscription is required to use Apple Music tracks. Premium content requiring separate licensing, if offered, is not included and may be purchased separately. Support: https://dramaticlights.com/en/support Privacy Policy: https://dramaticlights.com/en/privacy Terms of Use: https://dramaticlights.com/en/terms Questions or ideas? Email Kevin at kevin@nrthrnlights.com.

Screenshots

Hue Lights4 screens
Dramatic4 screens

Verdict

The call

Hue Lights and Dramatic both sit at 4.1 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Dramatic's written reviews are positive against 45% of Hue Lights's. Dramatic also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months). Hue Lights's advantage is ratings volume (472 vs 3) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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 and Dramatic sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for Hue Lights against 4.0 for Dramatic. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hue Lights has 472 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 45% of Hue Lights's written reviews are positive against 100% of Dramatic's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hue Lights ships an update every 5 months, Dramatic monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Hue Lights versus Dramatic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHue LightsDramatic
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (472 ratings) — better4.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews45.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings472 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB160 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLapApps, LLCNRTHRNLIGHTS, LLC

Customer experience

Hue Lights

All ratings132 ratings
Positive47.0%
Neutral7.6%
Negative45.5%
Written reviews220 reviews
Positive45.0%
Neutral9.1%
Negative45.9%

Dramatic

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Dramatic

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
1 purchases

Dramatic

One-time1
  • Lifetime App Unlock$29.99

Questions

Is Hue Lights free?
Hue Lights is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dramatic free?
Dramatic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hue Lights or Dramatic?
Hue Lights is rated higher. Hue Lights averages 4.1 out of 5 from 472 ratings, while Dramatic averages 4.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Hue Lights or Dramatic have ads?
Neither Hue Lights nor Dramatic shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hue Lights or Dramatic?
Hue Lights ships an update every 5 months, and Dramatic monthly. Most recently, Hue Lights was updated on November 11, 2026 and Dramatic on November 12, 2026.

Other comparisons