Lightbow App Reviews

Stumbled upon this app because it appears to be virtually the only app that supports Hue and LIFX together. Imagine my surprise that the only option is so incredible, and better than about anything Ive used that controls Hue alone. One great thing about the app that Ive realized since getting some LIFX bulbs in the mix is how well everything works together—and how well the UI handles both platforms. Whats really incredible is the ability to have animations that you can control with very fine precision. In fact, precision is painted all over this app. This has the result of being a little daunting, but there are lots of available inbuilt presets of you dont want to do any tinkering. But that brings me to the "Featured" in-app purchases... These purchases are preset packs. They dont really add any features to the app, just scenes that you could make on your own for free, in theory. I am completely okay with this—what you are paying for is the convenience of not having to set up these incredibly specific presets/animations yourself. If the dev keeps supporting the app, I know Ill be happy to buy the Christmas or Halloween packs when those holidays roll around. But if you dont want to do that, you arent restricted in any way whatsoever by not buying the packs. If I have a couple of criticisms, they arent deal breakers at all. First (a small gripe), the notification center widget uses space a little liberally; Id prefer it if the straight list at least was presented in 2 columns, so as to not use so much space. And now having used it for a bit, the biggest problem I have is that the notification center widget has been very unstable after adding some LIFX bulbs. The app is fine, but the widget crashes, and is otherwise unreliable (LIFX bulbs arent always responsive with the widget when they work fine with anything else). Ive deleted and re-added scenes triggered by the widget, but it has still been shaky. But overall, this app is worth the money. If you want to setup scenes yourself, itll take some effort, but your end result will be exactly what you want. And once you get over the learning curve, its probably quicker to build a scene in this app than most.

The ONLY app I use to control my hue lights. I dont know why Phillips doesnt include functionality like this, but it doesnt matter because this app is fantastic. Id love if they included Lutron support so I didnt have to use another app to control those, but I cant knock Lightbow for that.

It looked so difficult and intimidating then I found out It only looks complicated I only I wish Id found out sooner. Replaces all my old hue apps and then some. Great support, awesome effects,never loses contact with my bridge, so no more having to get up and push the button to dim the lights. Works with all my other lights perfectly when all the other apps couldnt even control one set very well. Its what I imagined Hue would be before I got sadly let down by every other app that came along when I first started. And now the effects are all I imagined and more.

I gave this an initial look over and thought “this is going to require some work.” So I played with Huedini and OnSwitch. Nice products, but allowing for minimal creativity on my part, and Huedini only works in the foreground. So I gave Lightbow a try. Explored the given presets, learned how they do what they do, and have since gone hog wild. I’ve set up once-static TV-show backgrounds to slowly and softly vacillate hues. I’ve set up celebratory “confetti” streams of color. I now emulate candlelight, soft pastel animations, even a Carnivale setup of flowing bright colors to turn any party into an instant Mardi Gras. I feel like I am now a Light Alchemist!

I bought this app based on what appeared to be sounds reviews, its crashed 100% of the time on my iPhone 6! Incredible time waster!

Lightbow is the best app for the Hue lights and can also control my WeMo switches! Newest update has a glitch that caused WeMo not to be discovered. Developer has already responded to my email! I have never experienced such quick response. Read some negative comments about in app purchased presets, I treat them as not only a purchase of some good presets, also as support to the developer.

The developer fixed the glitch the WeMe plugs and now the App works perfectly! It even has a widget!!!

Latest update cause application to crash after a few seconds of being open on iPad air with iOS 8.0.2 and 8.0.3. worked fine before that on Phillips light set up with Phillips receiver. Tried to uninstall/reinstall lost all of my settings of course... still same problem application crashes after running for a few seconds.

Just a great app for the hue system. It is comprehensive and leaves room for personal creativity.

Lightbow offers extreme flexibility in controlling my Phillips Hue, GE Link, Belkin WeMo, and other Zigbee lights and switches. Creating animations is simple and efficient allows for nuancing that produces fantastic results. The simple interface allows for extreme flexibility in creating step based effects and fine-tuning the look of my home for static looks. Using the whites tool you can even take control of your fixtures down to a single degree of Kelvin! Thats precision! If youre looking for a great way to control all of your homes automated lighting fixtures, this is it. As a professional lighting designer myself, this app lens itself to unique abilities for control and creating beautiful looks.

Lightbow is the best app in the AppStore for custom light animations. With support for Lifx, Hue and some Wemo bulbs, this is the app you want to buy as soon youve got your lights added to your network.

great feature set, great usability, and the add-on packs are really gorgeous!

Great app with a good feature set. Lightbow can do everything the Philips app can plus many more granular controls enabling very complex patterns and loops. Groups are fantastic and presets work like youd expect; you can also make presets for turning specific or groups of lights off. Great developer, too. Through many email exchanges, hes shown a deep understanding of what makes users happy and that shows in his app.

Bought this for animation loops, but none of them work anymore. Changing to solid colors works, but clicking any animation loop does nothing. EDIT: Clicking the small play button for animations does not always work. You have to click the tableview cell of the animation.

I tried a few different apps, but now run everything through LightBow. It allows so much control over the lights color and temperature, grouping for scenes, triggers and transitions.. it even integrates my WeMo switch which I use for a non-smart spotlight. Its just such a useful and powerful app!

This update restores WeMo functionality and adds my Osram Flex. This works great for a mixed Hue/WeMo setup. Thanks for your active development and responsiveness.

I really love the options to customize. I also like being able to easily pick from my choice of customized presets in the widget, including an on/off of the last used color.

Major features have been broken for months and months, release after release. Group features do not work correctly. Preset sharing is broken. Developer is unresponsive to emails and bug fix requests, but there are plenty of new in app purchase options with each new release.

Pros: lets you have very exact control over light groups, color temperature, color, fade times. Shows color/temp and brightness with numbers. Cons: Im not sure if this is an app for playing with/setting up lighting scenes or controlling them. When I want to set up presets its not as powerful as it could be. And when I want to use those presets its too complicated and too easy to accidentally edit them.

The only thing I can knock this app for is the current lack of Siri/HomeKit support. I still give it 5 stars because it does everything the developer says it will do and does everything bug-free, in my experience. This app will also allow you to set your light parameters numerically! So much better than dragging a light icon around a gradient box like the Phillips Hue app. Any app out there will let you set light colors. This app shines in its ability to program animations. It took me about 20 minutes of tapping around to figure out how master the animations. If youve ever worked with key frames in audio/video software youll have no problem. I made two 5-light, slow moving animations last night: one (to the best of my ability) mimics being underwater and the other a warm glow of a campfire. Next will be various lava lamp scenes. Yes, Im old and listen to lots of progressive/psychedelic music. I could go on and on about the various customization of parameters included, but for $5, this app is currently unparalleled. If you like to create things and you LOVE your Hue lights, you cant go wrong buying this. Parting note: Siri on the watch really makes the Hue lights worth owning vs not owning. Raising my wrist and telling Siri to turn on a Hue scene is the only way to go, IMO, but it only works with the Phillips Hue app for now and you cant transfer the animations from Lightbow to the Hue app for use with Siri. Hopefully its possible for the developer to add Siri to Lightbow in the future.