Is Philips Hue Being Discontinued?

The Philips Hue Smart Lights are a must-have product for almost every house. The Smart Lights enable people to create memorable moments with automated lighting.

For proper functioning, the Philips Hue Smart lights connect to the internet via the Hue Bridge. However, the news is going around that Philips Hue has been discontinued; is it true?

Unfortunately, starting in April 2020, Philips announced that they discontinued support for the first generation of Hue Bridges.

The company has also terminated Hue Bridges’ access to their online services, which means that people would not be able to control their smart lights through the online features they heavily relied on.

Moreover, the dedicated Philips Hue V1 mobile application isn’t getting any more software updates since April 2022.

What to do now with your Hue Bridge V1?

Even though the company has disabled its support for the Hue Bridge V1 model, the Hue Bridge V2 model, which was launched in 2015, is still functional. Therefore, it is recommended that the customers upgrade their Hue Bridge to the V2 model rather than using the limited functionality of the Hue Bridge V1 model.

The company has assured the customers that they currently have no plans to discontinue the Hue Bridge V2 model; hence, customers should not have to worry about the V2 model being out of function.

More about the Hue Bridge V2

Launched in 2015, the Hue Bridge V2 was designed to offer support for Apple’s HomeKit smart home technology. By looking at their shapes, you can distinguish the Hue Bridge V2 from the Hue Bridge V1. The V1 model is circular, while the V2 model is rectangular.

The 2nd generation Hue bridge works like the first generation Hue Bridge. However, since it has the HomeKit feature, it enables customers to connect smart home products to iOS more seamlessly.

The biggest advantage of the HomeKit feature is that it offers Siri support meaning that you can turn on the lights by ordering Siri to turn on the lights. If you are an android user, then the Hue Bride V2 might seem worthless to you, but as of now, this is the only model which you can use since the Hue Bridge V1 model is discontinued.

Final thoughts on Philip Hue being discontinued

The first generation Philips Hue bridge was discontinued in April 2020, and the company is no longer updating its mobile app either. You can still use the Hue Bridge V1 dedicated app but with limited functionality since the Hue Bridge is no longer affiliated with the company’s online services. You can, however, use the Hue Bridge V2 model as it is still functioning.