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nickwalters

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 11, 2011
17
2
Hi, I just got my first Apple TV, a 4K 128GB. It supports HomeKit. Did I understand correctly that I can do away with my Philips Hue Bridge device and use the Apple TV for that purpose instead? If so, how would I go about doing that? Thanks in advance for the advice.
 

kiranmk2

macrumors 68000
Oct 4, 2008
1,674
2,313
Once everything is Matter enabled (I don't think Philips have pushed the update to the bulbs yet) then in theory that is true. However, you should be aware that Matter is only going to support basic functionality (on/off, change colour, set scene): for all the fancier stuff (e.g. transitions) you will still need to use a Philips hub.

If you go back and read the detailed reviews of the first Amazon Echo Plus which had a smart hub built in it suffered similar drawbacks.
 
Last edited:

JimKas

macrumors newbie
Nov 7, 2014
13
7
Chicago Area
In short, no. Apple TV cannot replace the Hue Bridge. I have a Hue Bridge, and I've checked many times if that's possible, and it's currently not. I've also checked to see if Hue will be supporting "Matter" and "Thread", and based on my research, not answer is NO at this time. I'd be happy to learn otherwise!

If I didn't already have some much $$$ invested in Hue bulbs, I'd toss them all and replace them with Matter/Thread supported bulbs that don't require a hub.
 

shakopeemn

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2014
234
150
If I didn't already have some much $$$ invested in Hue bulbs, I'd toss them all and replace them with Matter/Thread supported bulbs that don't require a hub.
You could organize and recover some cost through Craigslist or whatever.

Also, keep in mind a couple of items. Matter isn't necessarily a proven solution in the wild real world. I do know that my Hue Hub has a limit of devices and so does my mesh wifi. What will be the real world limits for the thread?

Stay tuned in 2023/4.....
 
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kiranmk2

macrumors 68000
Oct 4, 2008
1,674
2,313
Now things have developed a bit more it looks like Hue lights will still need the Philips hub. Philips have committed to updating the hub to support matter, but not the bulbs themselves .
 
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