Comparison

OnSwitch for Philips Hue vs C5.now

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

C5.now

This app offers a curated selection of real documentaries, featuring a variety of genres without studio interference. Enjoy unfiltered stories, field reporting, and first-person access across politics, culture, crime, and more. Watch on any device and support independent creators.

Highlights
  • Curated documentary library
  • Multiple genres available
  • Unfiltered stories and field reporting
  • Cross-device compatibility
  • Human curation by experts
  • Support for independent creators
  • New releases and deep dives
Features
Read full description

C5NOW is a new streaming home for real documentaries. Curated by Channel 5 and Andrew Callaghan with no studio spin or fake polish. Just stories that matter. What you get: - Fresh documentaries, every genre - Politics, culture, crime, comedy, music, travel, and more. Short and long. New drops often. - Unfiltered stories - We keep it real. Field reporting. First-person access. No corporate notes. - Watch anywhere - TV, phone, and web. Start on your couch, finish on the train. Your account travels with you. - Support real journalism - Human curation - Handpicked by Channel 5 and Andrew. If it is mid, it does not ship. - Beyond documentaries - Series, specials, and experiments. If the story is good, it belongs here. Why it matters: - We give it back to the creators - Most platforms hoard the pie. We split it with the people who did the work. - Independent by design - No studio gatekeeping. No middlemen telling you what “plays.” - Community over clicks - We care about impact, not empty views. If a film makes you think, that is a win. What to expect: - New releases - Fresh drops from the field. Breaking stories when they matter. - Deep dives - Longform docs that dive into a topic and show the full picture. - Extras - Bonus scenes, Q&A, behind-the-scenes, field notes. If you want documentaries that do not talk down to you, you are in the right place. C5NOW is about creating and showcasing documentaries and beyond. Join in. --- Payments and Renewal: Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscriptions in your Account settings at any time after purchase Terms of use: https://c5.now/terms-of-service Privacy policy: https://c5.now/privacy-policy

Screenshots

OnSwitch for Philips Hue4 screens
C5.now3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: OnSwitch for Philips Hue at freemium against C5.now's subscription. OnSwitch for Philips Hue also leads on ratings volume (9.6K vs 236). C5.now's advantage is review sentiment (99% vs 62%) and rating (4.9 vs 4.7). 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 10 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month and C5.now sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

C5.now holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OnSwitch for Philips Hue has 9.6K ratings behind it against 236, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 62% of OnSwitch for Philips Hue's written reviews are positive against 99% of C5.now's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OnSwitch for Philips Hue ships an update every 2 weeks, C5.now every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
OnSwitch for Philips Hue versus C5.now: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOnSwitch for Philips HueC5.now
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9.6K ratings)4.9 (236 ratings) — better
Positive reviews62.0% of reviews98.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.6K — better236
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.4
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB55 MB
Age rating+1717+
DeveloperBuzzhaus, LLCFourthwall, Inc.

Customer experience

OnSwitch for Philips Hue

All ratings9,575 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral3.5%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews653 reviews
Positive62.0%
Neutral7.8%
Negative30.2%

C5.now

All ratings221 ratings
Positive99.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.5%
Written reviews81 reviews
Positive98.8%
Neutral1.2%
Negative0.0%

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

C5.now

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

OnSwitch for Philips Hue

Subscriptions3
  • OnSwitch Premium$12.991 Month
  • OnSwitch Premium3 Days trial$35.991 Year
  • OnSwitch Premium – Family3 Days trial$49.991 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 Album$7.99
1 purchases

C5.now

Subscriptions1
  • Full Stream Membership$7.991 Month

Questions

Is OnSwitch for Philips Hue free?
OnSwitch for Philips Hue is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is C5.now free?
C5.now is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, OnSwitch for Philips Hue or C5.now?
C5.now is rated higher. OnSwitch for Philips Hue averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9.6K ratings, while C5.now averages 4.9 from 236 ratings.
Do OnSwitch for Philips Hue or C5.now have ads?
Neither OnSwitch for Philips Hue nor C5.now shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OnSwitch for Philips Hue or C5.now?
OnSwitch for Philips Hue ships an update every 2 weeks, and C5.now every 3 weeks. Most recently, OnSwitch for Philips Hue was updated on November 8, 2026 and C5.now on November 5, 2026.

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