6 ms·

Show HN: Chroma for Hue, Control Your Philips Hue Bulbs from OS X

16 points by ang 12y ago

whyohwhyamihere 12y ago
The "presets" are less than pleasant overall. They are missing a nice warm color for reading. Colors are either too prison-like or too red.
- glhaynes 12y ago
  I agree that the presets could use some work, but in case you missed it, if you click the chevron to the right of "Suggested Colors", you can set the color/brightness manually.
silversmith 12y ago
Could I hijack the comments to talk about the hardware itself? I've been looking into remote-controllable lightbulbs, but Hue seems to both cost more than I like and have features I don't need (RGB for example). What are the alternatives, and what's your experience with them?
- radley 12y ago
  They also make Lux bulbs, which are white controllable LED bulbs for only $30.
  - wlesieutre 12y ago
    The white ones are also brighter. 750 lumens for white versus ~500 lumens (at 3000K color temperature) for color changing. Roughly speaking, they're equivalent to 60W and 40W incandescents, respectively.
  - silversmith 12y ago
    Thank you, I had somehow missed those. That's actually a really tempting price point.
mcmillion 12y ago
I tried this last night, and it's definitely a step in the right direction. It seemed to be missing custom presets, though, and I'm not always at my computer, so I end up using an app on my phone to control the lights more. Sadly, the first-party mobile app still seems to be the best bet overall, and it's a complete piece of garbage quality-wise, but it provides everything I seem to need.
- radley 12y ago
  I found iConnectHue to be the best. It handles taps and groups very well.
arcameron 12y ago
Is this open source? I would love to play with this
- wlesieutre 12y ago
  http://www.developers.meethue.com/ http://www.developers.meethue.com/
  - arcameron 12y ago
    Sorry, I meant the code for this .app specifically
glhaynes 12y ago
Very nice, was wishing aloud just last night for something this straightforward. I expect I'll be using this a lot. I'd love to see it have a menu bar item option. And I note that the interface would work nearly as-is on iOS. (And I'd jump on paying $0.99 for it, on either platform, if you decide you're so inclined.) Does it work with the new Lux white-only lights?
argyledreamer 12y ago
very cool! I've been thinking of going down the automated home path. Seems like this would be a good way to dip my toes into the water without investing tons of money.

16 points by ang 12y ago

The "presets" are less than pleasant overall. They are missing a nice warm color for reading. Colors are either too prison-like or too red.

glhaynes 12y ago
I agree that the presets could use some work, but in case you missed it, if you click the chevron to the right of "Suggested Colors", you can set the color/brightness manually.

silversmith 12y ago

Could I hijack the comments to talk about the hardware itself? I've been looking into remote-controllable lightbulbs, but Hue seems to both cost more than I like and have features I don't need (RGB for example). What are the alternatives, and what's your experience with them?

radley 12y ago
They also make Lux bulbs, which are white controllable LED bulbs for only $30.
- wlesieutre 12y ago
  The white ones are also brighter. 750 lumens for white versus ~500 lumens (at 3000K color temperature) for color changing. Roughly speaking, they're equivalent to 60W and 40W incandescents, respectively.
- silversmith 12y ago
  Thank you, I had somehow missed those. That's actually a really tempting price point.

mcmillion 12y ago

I tried this last night, and it's definitely a step in the right direction. It seemed to be missing custom presets, though, and I'm not always at my computer, so I end up using an app on my phone to control the lights more. Sadly, the first-party mobile app still seems to be the best bet overall, and it's a complete piece of garbage quality-wise, but it provides everything I seem to need.

radley 12y ago
I found iConnectHue to be the best. It handles taps and groups very well.

arcameron 12y ago

Is this open source? I would love to play with this

wlesieutre 12y ago
http://www.developers.meethue.com/ http://www.developers.meethue.com/
- arcameron 12y ago
  Sorry, I meant the code for this .app specifically

glhaynes 12y ago

Very nice, was wishing aloud just last night for something this straightforward. I expect I'll be using this a lot. I'd love to see it have a menu bar item option. And I note that the interface would work nearly as-is on iOS. (And I'd jump on paying $0.99 for it, on either platform, if you decide you're so inclined.) Does it work with the new Lux white-only lights?

argyledreamer 12y ago

very cool! I've been thinking of going down the automated home path. Seems like this would be a good way to dip my toes into the water without investing tons of money.