New in iConnectHue 5
So this is happening…
iConnectHue aged 10! Thank you for being with us, even if you haven’t been around through all the time!
We’ve condensed our many news to these main topics:
10 year special
We celebrate our 10th anniversary – and as a special, we discount the app by around 66% – tell all your friends. To also give something back to you, we’ve reduced Membership prices to 50% for first time members in the first year! Both specials are time-limited – use them before they get discontinued!
This is a special number – and we’ve decided to make it a special update. We’ve given iConnectHue a design overhaul, complete with skinning support and a new skin – we call it “Neon” – several visual updates – and a lot more! Try our new skin – in case you don’t like it after several days, you can activate our classic skin under Settings->Skin.
Additionally, this is the first time the app is available in both French and Danish – bienvenue & velkommen!
Group tabular list
Due to feedback we’ve added a tabular view to the home view. On the iPhone, simply select the menu (…), when you’re in group overview, then select the tabular view. On the iPad, the tabular view is available as a sidebar for quick access & quick jump. There, simply press the sidebar button left to the menu to show/hide it.
(Available w/ 2023 upgrade or Membership)
2023 Upgrade
The 2023 upgrade – included for all members – introduces several changes. Amongst the most notable:
- Animations and Magic Scenes (latter on timers and switches) in Zones and Rooms can now use gradient lights*
- The app can detect the active scene in many cases in Rooms and Zones*
- Single shot timers
- Swipe down on a light on the home view to turn it off
*Also requires 2021 upgrade, since gradient support required; You may need to clean up unused animations via the bridge settings before in order for it to work for recently used animations
(Available w/ 2023 upgrade or Membership)
Membership improvements
Again, for all first-time members, Memberships are reduced to 50% for the first year – use your chance if you haven’t had one yet!
- Select your Animation transition type – normal, progressive (also backwards), random – and create animation effects not available to users before!
- Monochromatic gradient mode – use the same color with its saturation
- Discotainment sparkle color also available for Basic members
- More AI scenes per day – 15 for Basic, 25 for Pro
The animation transition type is one of the planned changes to the animation editor, more are to come soon. All additional new functionality to it will be available exclusively to members.
Note that the split gradient mode has been removed to make some space – however, you can achieve the same effect with the Analogous mode by sliding around the small cursors.
(Available for all members)
Light startup Mode Wizard
The brand new Pro light startup mode wizard makes your life easier! It allows you to set the startup mode (after power interruption) for multiple lights in batch mode, and to define in which mode newly added lights should be automatically configured with.Single shot timers
Single shot timers for lights and groups allow you to create a timer that is only started once – either today (if later than current time), or tomorrow (if earlier). It currently is only available without conditions like presence or group-on state. Simply switch the “repeats” button to off in the editor to enable it. Timers will delete themselves after they activated.
(Available w/ 2023 upgrade or Membership)
Other changes
These are other notable changes, and they’re for free:
- The bridge page has been completely reworked for better overview and easier access
- Your devices now have a nice little icon for battery, brightness and temperature (if available)
- Skinning support – choose between our brand new “Neon” and the known “Classic” theme under Settings->Skin
10 years of iConnectHue
Did you know that the name “iConnectHue” is a word play with “you” and “hue”? It basically says “I connect you (with Hue)”. Easy to spot for native speakers, for others maybe not as easy to understand.
Originally it had been started as “Disco-Hue”, referring to some guy called “Disco Stu” from a rather well-known animated series. But then someone used the same words, just in opposite order – broke the word play and the project had to find a new direction.
iConnectHue started as a side project for me, Stefan, and soon catched on after a few important changes. So much so that I had to stop working on other projects.
Over the time, it got more work intense and lasted longer than I anticipated – also thanks to you – and what was healthy for me, so after 4 years we had to get staff to handle the support for you. Since it got clear now that iConnectHue was here to stay, and there are people that need to be paid on regular basis, we had to introduce our memberships. They were necessary to keep us afloat – and are the reason why iConnectHue still can exist in this form – with always fresh updates and personal support!
In the time of its existence, it introduced many “firsts”, which partially haven’t been done by others yet, or with much more delay, partially of years: Better switch editor – which has set the standard for Hue switch editors – Multi user geofencing, Animations on the bridge (still the best to be available), Multi Bridge (2016), Discotainment – the first integrated Hue Entertainment audio visualization within a Hue App (2018!), AI integration (2023), and many more.
It defined what you can expect of a Hue system and showed what it is capable of.
What are your stories with iConnectHue? What do you wish it to do for you in the future? Let us know – simply contact us from the menu!
Special thanks
A special thanks to everyone who has supported us over the years – through purchases, memberships, positive reviews, reporting issues and requesting features. You are the reason we can do this!
We would also thank our translators. For Danish it is Bernth Eriksen, for French they are Samuel Vincent, Fabrice Dubois and Daniel Rondreux.
This is new to us – supporting languages we don’t speak. If you spot any issues, please let us know!