Comparison

LIGHTIFY 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

LIGHTIFY

Control your home and garden lighting from anywhere in the world with this mobile app. Customize colors, brightness, and create dynamic light effects to enhance your living space and improve safety, all while potentially reducing power consumption.

Highlights
  • Remote lighting control
  • Customizable colors and brightness
  • Create light effects
  • Control home and garden lighting
  • Remote access via internet
  • Energy saving features
Features
Read full description

Your mobile light control of the future The LIGHTIFY app is your mobile control center for the complete LIGHTIFY system. The app contains many exciting functions and settings, enabling you to customize your lighting. You can carry out a wide range of modifications to your home and garden lighting at any time, playfully with simple wiping movements on your mobile device: In a matter of seconds and via the Internet from anywhere in the world. LIGHTIFY: lighting has never been as much fun as this! And light has never been so individual, enriching and helpful. LIGHTIFY brings the future of lighting into your home and garden. Light controlled by a mobile app. Connected lighting that adapts at all times to your desires and lifestyle. More flexibility, color, excitement and emotion. A greater feeling of safety. And less power consumption. Let your creativity run free! Simply play around with your lighting. Try out new ideas. And surprise both yourself and your guests with really great light effects. It couldn´t be simpler: LIGHTIFY installation in 3 steps: 1. Download the free LIGHTIFY app on your smartphone or tablet PC 2. Insert the LIGHTIFY gateway into the socket and connect it to your WLAN router 3. Install your LIGHTIFY lamps and luminaires and follow the app instructions We’d appreciate it if you could review our privacy policy (https://www.osram.com/cb/lightify/lightify-privacy-policy/index.jsp) and terms of use (https://www.osram.com/cb/lightify/lightify-terms-of-use/index.jsp), which you need to accept before using the LIGHTIFY system.  It's important information about what you can and can't do with LIGHTIFY, and how we protect your 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

LIGHTIFY4 screens
Hue Essentials4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: LIGHTIFY at none against Hue Essentials's 8. LIGHTIFY also leads on ratings volume (2.4K vs 138) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Hue Essentials's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (37% vs 26%). On price, rating and ads 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 Essentials sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. LIGHTIFY asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hue Essentials holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LIGHTIFY has 2.4K ratings behind it against 138, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 26% of LIGHTIFY's written reviews are positive against 37% of Hue Essentials's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LIGHTIFY ships an update every 2 months, Hue Essentials every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
LIGHTIFY versus Hue Essentials: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLIGHTIFYHue Essentials
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (2.4K ratings)4.2 (138 ratings) — better
Positive reviews25.7% of reviews37.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.4K — better138
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size117 MB271 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOSRAM GmbHThomas Vos

Customer experience

LIGHTIFY

All ratings2,408 ratings
Positive74.0%
Neutral5.6%
Negative20.3%
Written reviews338 reviews
Positive25.7%
Neutral10.4%
Negative63.9%

Hue Essentials

All ratings138 ratings
Positive77.5%
Neutral7.2%
Negative15.2%
Written reviews239 reviews
Positive37.2%
Neutral8.4%
Negative54.4%

User reviews

LIGHTIFY

From 2.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Great product
  • 🚀 Worked flawlessly
  • 👍 Awesome product
  • 👍 Very pleased

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Freezes on agree page
  • 🐛 No support to install app
  • 🐛 Completely abandoned
  • 🐛 Current update won't support lights
  • 🐛 Not intuitive

Hue Essentials

From 138 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

LIGHTIFY

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Gateway firmware update breaks connectivity
  • Lights randomly turn on/off
  • Schedules disappear after bulb turns on
  • Lights default to cool white on power-on
  • Upgrade process disables all other features

Requested features

5 requests
  • Sunset/sunrise scheduling
  • Integration with smart assistants
  • Ability to set dynamic presets
  • Fading between scenes
  • Ping-based scene triggers

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

None

LIGHTIFY

No in-app purchases

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 LIGHTIFY free?
LIGHTIFY is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hue Essentials free?
Hue Essentials is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, LIGHTIFY or Hue Essentials?
Hue Essentials is rated higher. LIGHTIFY averages 4.0 out of 5 from 2.4K ratings, while Hue Essentials averages 4.2 from 138 ratings.
Do LIGHTIFY or Hue Essentials have ads?
Neither LIGHTIFY nor Hue Essentials shows ads.
Which is updated more often, LIGHTIFY or Hue Essentials?
LIGHTIFY ships an update every 2 months, and Hue Essentials every 2 weeks. Most recently, LIGHTIFY was updated on October 2, 2026 and Hue Essentials on October 3, 2026.

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