Comparison

OnSwitch for Philips Hue vs Hue Essentials

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

Head to head
About

OnSwitch for Philips Hue

Enhance your smart lighting with dynamic scenes and effects. Create immersive experiences for holidays, parties, and relaxation with a user-friendly interface. Features include sunrise alarms, sunset timers, and creative color controls.

Highlights
  • Animated light scenes for holidays and parties
  • Live game-sync events for sports
  • Sunrise alarm and sunset sleep timer
  • Creative color control and discovery
  • Manage and control light groups
  • Hero lighting with cinematic flair
Features
Read full description

LIGHTS! COLORS! ACTION! OnSwitch is the #1 rated companion app for Philips Hue smart lighting systems. Downloaded over 2.5 million times! OnSwitch for Philips Hue has a beautiful, simple user interface but it's also powerful. Your Hue lights come alive with a single click! • Holidays • Party/Disco Lighting • Sports, Including LIVE game-sync events • Sunrise alarm and sunset sleep timer • Fun kids content • Accent Lighting • Color flows • Candle light • Nature Scenes • Lightning • Fireworks Our Hue app connects to your Philips Hue Bridge, creating immersive animated experiences with your Hue lights! Get the best Hue App, get OnSwitch! UNLOCK EVERYTHING With OnSwitch Premium subscription you can unlock our entire content library and more! • Unlock ALL albums (300+ animated light scenes) • Unlimited SIRI Shortcuts • Access exclusive LIVE events. • Amazing NEW scenes added regularly. HERO LIGHTING Our Hue light scenes have cinematic flair. Music sound tracks set the mood while our an animation engine delivers bursts of light and sound where anything can happen. Santa lands on your house! Zombies attack! You are in a spaceship battle! Other light scenes transport you to a Lush Forest, Venice or even Deep Space to chill out in the Orion Nebula listening to superb ambient electronic music. CREATIVE LIGHTING OnSwitch gives you smarter, clearer ways to control your smart lights. Instead of guessing what Hue's "Light Recipes" mean, our Everyday Lighting album presents gorgeous photos of antique and halogen bulbs or a skylight so it's clear what kind of light you are going to get. Our fluorescent tube even flickers on like the real thing! Want Color? Other apps make you drag a pin around a color wheel. OnSwitch makes it easy with curated Pastels and Accent colors. Warm and Cool color flows. And "Color Splat!" our exclusive color discovery feature that's always fun and a surprise. SUNRISE ALARM & SUNSET SLEEP TIMER Wake up with a beautiful sunrise and your favorite music! Go to sleep with a sunset, optimized for better sleep. LIGHT GROUPS Easily create and manage groups of bulbs. Control each group independently. OnSwitch manages groups on your Philips Hue Bridge so it will play nicely with your other apps! IMPORTANT! • You will need LIFX smart bulbs or a Philips Hue bridge and light bulbs to use this app. • OnSwitch requires iOS10 or later to run. SUBSCRIPTION TERMS OnSwitch Premium subscription unlocks all of the app's lighting content. You can preview all of the content for 3 days FREE before your subscription starts. If you choose to subscribe, you will be charged a per month subscription fee according to your country. The subscription fee will be shown in the app before you complete the payment. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of each subscription term, unless auto-renewal is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the term. Subscription renewals cost the same as the original subscription, and your credit card will be charged through your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. You may manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal at any time after purchase by going to your iTunes Account Settings. Refunds will not be given for any unused portion of the term. For additional information, please read: •Terms of Service (https://www.getonswitch.com/terms) • Privacy Policy (https://www.getonswitch.com/privacy)

About

Hue Essentials

Unlock the full potential of your smart lighting system. Create custom scenes, dynamic effects, and automate your lights with schedules and triggers. Control multiple smart home bridges and devices seamlessly for a personalized ambiance.

Highlights
  • Custom scenes and effects
  • Music and entertainment sync
  • Sunrise/sunset automation
  • Multi-bridge control
  • Device discovery and setup
  • Button and sensor automation
  • Away from home control
Features
Read full description

Imagine unlimited possibilities in your smart home. Set scenes and fast effects to your mood. Experience Dance Sensation in your entertainment area with Philips Hue Entertainment. Feel more in control with schedules and automation from sunrise to sunset. Control multiple bridges simultaneously without switching between them. Supported devices • Philips Hue bridge • Philips Hue Bluetooth lights • deCONZ (ConBee) • diyHue • LIFX Scenes & effects Create the perfect ambiance from your photos or the included photo library. Experience special animations like lava, fireplace, fireworks, or lightning. Wake up at sunrise and go to sleep at sunset with fading lights. Get into the party on the beats of your music. Sync your lights for a night of disco with strobe effects (updates 25 times/sec). Quick access Create rooms and groups to organize your lights. You can even put a light in several groups. Smart lights & controls The unique ‘Touchlink’ search allows you to find new (3rd party, Zigbee) lights. Use included wizards for easy setup of your devices. You can set scenes, actions, or even multiple scenes on a button to make your switch a real investment. Experience the right ambiance during different times of your day with your motion sensor. All of your creations are stored on the bridge. Easy for you and your family. Advanced Automation allows you to have greater control of your smart home. Turn on your lights when the door opens. Adjust your ventilation when the humidity gets too high. Open or close blinds and curtains based on temperature or sunshine. Make it look like you are at home using 'Away from Home' (out of home control). Communicate directly with your Hue bridge using the API debugger. View technical details of your Hue bridge and update its resources like lights and sensors. You want it all? Fast performance with ad-free experience. Purchase the premium version to unlock full content.

Screenshots

OnSwitch for Philips Hue4 screens
Hue Essentials4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: OnSwitch for Philips Hue at 4.7 against Hue Essentials's 4.1. OnSwitch for Philips Hue also leads on ratings volume (9.6K vs 133) and review sentiment (57% vs 37%). Hue Essentials's advantage is device support (5 vs 2). On price, update cadence, 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. OnSwitch for Philips Hue sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month and Hue Essentials sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

OnSwitch for Philips Hue holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OnSwitch for Philips Hue has 9.6K ratings behind it against 133, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of OnSwitch for Philips Hue's written reviews are positive against 37% of Hue Essentials's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OnSwitch for Philips Hue ships an update every 3 weeks, Hue Essentials every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
OnSwitch for Philips Hue versus Hue Essentials: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOnSwitch for Philips HueHue Essentials
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9.6K ratings) — better4.1 (133 ratings)
Positive reviews57.3% of reviews — better37.2% of reviews
Number of ratings9.6K — better133
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB269 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperBuzzhaus, LLCThomas Vos

Customer experience

OnSwitch for Philips Hue

All ratings9,559 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral3.5%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews368 reviews
Positive57.3%
Neutral7.9%
Negative34.8%

Hue Essentials

All ratings133 ratings
Positive75.9%
Neutral8.3%
Negative15.8%
Written reviews239 reviews
Positive37.2%
Neutral8.4%
Negative54.4%

User reviews

OnSwitch for Philips Hue

From 9.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Simply the best
  • 🚀 Fantastic app
  • 👍 Great app
  • 👍 Awesome app
  • 👍 Excellent app

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Subscription to control my lights
  • 🔒 No One-Time Purchase Option
  • 🐛 Doesn't work with LifX
  • 🐛 Disconnects from the hue bridge
  • 🐛 Unable to open after recent update

Hue Essentials

From 133 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent Hue lighting control
  • 👍 Works well with multiple bridges
  • 💡 Customizable remote controls
  • 🚀 Faster than official Hue app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
  • 🔒 In-app purchases required for key features
  • 👎 Poor execution and user experience
  • 🔋 Widgets and Apple Watch app not working

Bugs and requests

OnSwitch for Philips Hue

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes on launch after update
  • Connectivity issues
  • Lights not responding correctly
  • Scenes not working as expected

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add support for LIFX bulbs
  • Allow customization of light groups
  • Add background mode/automation
  • Add Siri/HomeKit integration
  • Improve interface and organization
Show 2 more
  • Add more scenes and effects
  • Reduce pricing of individual scenes

Hue Essentials

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Fade feature not working
  • Saving automations not working
  • Crashes when checking 'About' section
  • Widgets and Apple Watch app issues

Requested features

4 requests
  • Repeat/loop function for automations
  • Strobing/flashing effects
  • Dark mode
  • Alexa integration

In-app purchases

9 purchases

OnSwitch for Philips Hue

Subscriptions2
  • OnSwitch Premium$12.991 Month
  • OnSwitch Premium3 Days trial$35.991 Year
One-time7
  • Embers$0.99
  • Fireplace$1.99
  • Lightning$1.99
Show 4 more
  • Aurora$1.99
  • Nature Album$4.99
  • Science Fiction Album$5.99
  • Fireworks Album2 variants$7.99
8 purchases

Hue Essentials

One-time8
  • Effects: Christmas$0.99
  • Effects: Universe$0.99
  • Effects: Wonders of nature$0.99
Show 5 more
  • Effects: Romantic$0.99
  • Effects: Floral fantasy$0.99
  • Effects: Spooky$0.99
  • Multiple bridges$4.99
  • Premium$7.99

Questions

Is OnSwitch for Philips Hue free?
OnSwitch for Philips Hue is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hue Essentials free?
Hue Essentials is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, OnSwitch for Philips Hue or Hue Essentials?
OnSwitch for Philips Hue is rated higher. OnSwitch for Philips Hue averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9.6K ratings, while Hue Essentials averages 4.1 from 133 ratings.
Do OnSwitch for Philips Hue or Hue Essentials have ads?
Neither OnSwitch for Philips Hue nor Hue Essentials shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OnSwitch for Philips Hue or Hue Essentials?
OnSwitch for Philips Hue ships an update every 3 weeks, and Hue Essentials every 2 weeks. Most recently, OnSwitch for Philips Hue was updated on October 1, 2026 and Hue Essentials on September 30, 2026.

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