LIFX Smart Bulbs now have an official UWP app

[Ertonimus]

This is random but I think it's important that companies that are willing to make a true UWP get some recognition for their work. I'm finishing up construction on a loft and have been purchasing various smart home items for the space. One of my criteria is that whatever I buy has to support WM10 and hopefully the UWP. I've been discouraged with my options for color smart bulbs as Philips Hue seems to be the big player but they don't officially have a UWP. I heard about LIFX bulbs last night and all the review sites said they only had a third party client for WM10. When I went to check it out I found a fully functional official LIFX UWP that includes the Surface and Holographic. Only thing missing is the Xbox right now. For anyone looking to buy smart bulbs check out LIFX. They're giving us W10M fans some love so we should return the favor.

 

[daimv]

Cool! Good to see support, does the app work well? I've been considering getting some cool lights and this might influence my choice definitely.

 

[Ertonimus]

Cool! Good to see support, does the app work well? I've been considering getting some cool lights and this might influence my choice definitely.

It looks real slick but the bulbs haven't arrived yet so I can't speak to its functionality just yet. Once the bulbs arrives I'll make a follow up post.

 

[Ertonimus]

Bulbs arrived today and the app works great. Took about 30 seconds to setup each bulb and from what I can tell the app is full featured. I can control each light individually, per group(room), or all at once. There are "themes" which basically turns each light a different hue to match the feel of a picture. If you click the picture of a jackolantern you get oranges and yellows, a bowl of berries gives you blues, reds, etc. This may be my favorite feature so far as it makes it real easy to show off what the lights can do. You can also add effects like flicker(candle like affect), spooky(think Stranger Things flashes), and a bunch of other ones. I have an Insteon setup for my other smart gear and apparently these lights don't play nice with it but there are options in the app to connect the lights to a variety of other smarthome systems and devices.

I suppose that about does it. If you have specific questions feel free to ask.

 

[daimv]

Sounds awesome! I'd really like to get a few, but in the end I decided for now they are out of my price range ($60 each bulb and $20 shipping ) I decided instean on some cheaper ones. MagicLight Bluetooth for $35 each. Got 2 for my bedroom to test them. Sadly the coolest app isn't there but I'll test the third party ones, if they aren't up to the task I might end up making my own

 

[Ertonimus]

Sounds awesome! I'd really like to get a few, but in the end I decided for now they are out of my price range ($60 each bulb and $20 shipping ) I decided instean on some cheaper ones. MagicLight Bluetooth for $35 each. Got 2 for my bedroom to test them. Sadly the coolest app isn't there but I'll test the third party ones, if they aren't up to the task I might end up making my own

Nice if you make one -let me know. I'm also finding the cost a little prohibitive. If you buy six from the LIFX website you get $75 off which makes it a little better but they're still pricey. If Philips had a fully functional Hue app I'd go with that at 29.99 a bulb(plus cost of bridge) but I don't think the functionality via Home Remote could do much more than turn them off and on.

 

[daimv]

I already recieved my MagicLight bulbs, and they are pretty cool.
I'm sure LIFX would be cooler but $$$$$$
There are a few third party apps that work with bluetooth bulbs like mine, but they all have their flaws. Some don't let you control more than one bulb at once, some just are very simple and only allow to set color, some are very slow and unreliable.
I found enough to work for now, but I think I will indeed make my own because these ones don't fulfill all the features I want. I'll let you know when it is ready, though I might make it bluetooth only at first, because for now I don't own WiFi bulbs to test.

Have fun though, these bulbs are awesome! Even with the limited features I've been having a lot of fun.