Philips adds HomeKit support for Hue accessories

Philips is making its Hue system of accessories a bit more useful to Apple Home users: a new

update rolling out today makes products like the Hue Tap, Hue Dimmer Switch, and Hue Motion Sensor compatible with Apple’s HomeKit. In other words, you’ll be able to use Philips’ switches to control other HomeKit-compatible devices. USE PHILIPS’ SWITCHES TO CONTROL OTHER HOMEKIT-COMPATIBLE DEVICES Once updated, you’ll be able to set Philips switches to activate Apple Home scenes. So, walking in the door could turn on your lights, switch on a fan, and open your blinds, assuming you can find HomeKit-compatible accessories to do all that, which could still be a bit of a challenge. While the Hue lights didn’t originally support HomeKit, back in 2015 the company released an updated hub that added compatibility with Apple’s smart home standard. Integrating the various smart switches that Philips makes into the system seems like a logical next step, one that should be useful for anyone who’s embraced Apple Home accessories. That said, you’ll still need to have the updated HomeKit-compatible hub for the new integrations to work. If you’ve got the original Hue base station, you’re out of luck. Apple is now allowing software-based authentication for HomeKit devices, however. So it’s possible, if somewhat unlikely, that there could be a future software update to change that.                                                                                                            https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/10/3/16408960/philips-hue-homekit-support-apple-home-smart-dimmer-tap-motion-sensor