Comparison

OnSwitch for Philips Hue vs Philips PCA

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

Philips PCA

This application allows for the control of lighting and HVAC systems from a single point. It utilizes visible light communication or QR code input to manage pre-commissioned connected lighting systems. A professionally installed Philips Connected Lighting system is required for operation.

Highlights
  • Lighting control
  • HVAC control
  • Visible light communication
  • QR code input
  • Self-configuring
  • Location-based control
Features
Read full description

PCA is the latest control application from Signify. It is a self-configuring application that provides control options for lighting, HVAC from a single point. Using visible light communication or QR code input it can control the pre-commissioned Connected Lighting system. A professionally installed Philips Connected Lighting system is a pre-requisite for use of this app. iOS11 onwards is a requirement for PCA and is compatible with iPhone 6 Plus, 6, 5s and 5c. The PCA App will collect your location data provided by the location services offered on the phone platform to control the lighting and/or temperature at your current location. If you do not consent to the tracking of your location, certain functionality within the App may be limited. You can turn-off the location tracking functionality through the settings of your device, also temporarily. The PCA App needs to access your Camera and GPS receiver for delivering the functionalities and services of the App itself. If you do not consent to the use of these functionality within the App will be limited. Read our App Privacy Notice https://www.signify.com/global/privacy/legal-information/privacy-notice for more information

Screenshots

OnSwitch for Philips Hue4 screens
Philips PCA4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Philips PCA at 100% against OnSwitch for Philips Hue's 62%. Philips PCA also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). OnSwitch for Philips Hue's advantage is ratings volume (9.6K vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Philips PCA asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Philips PCA holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OnSwitch for Philips Hue has 9.6K ratings behind it against 1, 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 100% of Philips PCA's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OnSwitch for Philips Hue ships an update every 2 weeks, Philips PCA every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
OnSwitch for Philips Hue versus Philips PCA: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOnSwitch for Philips HuePhilips PCA
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9.6K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews62.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.6K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB16 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperBuzzhaus, LLCSignify Netherlands B.V.

Customer experience

OnSwitch for Philips Hue

All ratings9,573 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral3.5%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews652 reviews
Positive62.1%
Neutral7.8%
Negative30.1%

Philips PCA

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
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

Philips PCA

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

Philips PCA

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is OnSwitch for Philips Hue free?
OnSwitch for Philips Hue is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Philips PCA free?
Philips PCA is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, OnSwitch for Philips Hue or Philips PCA?
Philips PCA is rated higher. OnSwitch for Philips Hue averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9.6K ratings, while Philips PCA averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do OnSwitch for Philips Hue or Philips PCA have ads?
Neither OnSwitch for Philips Hue nor Philips PCA shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OnSwitch for Philips Hue or Philips PCA?
OnSwitch for Philips Hue ships an update every 2 weeks, and Philips PCA every 3 months. Most recently, OnSwitch for Philips Hue was updated on October 25, 2026 and Philips PCA on October 6, 2026.

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