Control your Philips Hue lights from anywhere

Why remote access matters

Your Hue Bridge normally only answers devices on your home network. That's no help when you're at work and wonder if you left the lights on, or when you want the porch light on before you get home. With remote access, HueCommand can reach your Bridge from anywhere with an internet connection.

How it works

HueCommand connects through the official Philips Hue Remote API. You sign in on Philips Hue's own sign-in page using OAuth 2.0 with PKCE, a standard secure way to sign in. The app never sees your Hue password. It receives a token that lets it send commands through the Hue cloud to your Bridge, and all traffic is encrypted with TLS.

There is no HueCommand server in the middle. Commands go from your device to Signify's cloud to your Bridge. No port forwarding, VPN or router settings are needed.

Set it up in a minute

1. Open HueCommand and go to Settings > Remote Access.
2. Tap Sign in with Philips Hue and sign in on the official Hue page.
3. Allow HueCommand to access your Bridge.

Each Bridge has a connection mode. In Auto (the default) the app uses your local network when it can reach the Bridge and the Hue cloud when it can't. Force Local and Force Remote let you pin one route.

What you can do remotely

• Switch lights and whole rooms on and off, including All Off
• Adjust brightness, color and color temperature
• Activate scenes saved on your Bridge
• See which lights are on, so you know if something was left on

Siri Shortcuts also switch to the Hue cloud when your Bridge isn't reachable locally. Home Screen widgets and the Control Center control use your home network.

Some things stay local. Entertainment streaming needs the same network as the Bridge. Live effects and Music Reactive are driven by your device while the app is open, so they are meant for when you're in the room. Commands through the cloud can take a moment longer than on your home Wi-Fi.

Staying in control of access

The sign-in token is stored in your device's Keychain, protected by the same system security as your passwords. You can stop remote access at any time with Sign Out under Settings > Remote Access. After that the app only talks to your Bridge on your home network.

Your lights, rooms and scenes stay on your Bridge whether remote access is on or off. Nothing is copied to a HueCommand server.

Pro feature

Remote access is part of Pro, available monthly, yearly or as a one-time lifetime unlock. Pro also includes geofencing, multi-bridge, bridge backup, the energy dashboard, Entertainment streaming and AI scenes. Local control of your lights is always free.

Remote access works in the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro apps. For lights that react when you arrive or leave, see geofencing.