I think almost everyone will like to watch movies, listen to music and play games. There is already the way of entertainment in our modern lives. So have you ever felt like you want to step into the world of your favorite video game? Or want to be part of a movie? Or experience the music that you are listening to transports you to a different universe? With Philips Hue’s new devices, all is possible.
It works by analyzing what’s on screen and adjusting the Philips Hue bulbs accordingly. By connecting to the Philips Hue Sync mobile app, so you can adjust the mode, brightness, and intensity of the light sync to create an atmosphere for your entertainment experience.
By switching between HDMI devices and turn the sync on or off, you can get the atmosphere setting just right for your at-home dance party, gaming tournament, or cinema night. But what’s causing the connection issue you may encounter.
Few companies will be willing to gamble on new products, especially for technical products, which means that many unpredictable problems will occur. Some users report problems with how the Hue Sync box connects to HDMI and Wi-Fi. I personally think that how the app stores data during updates cause the Hue Sync app connection problems. I will tell you some methods to fix it.
Table of Contents
What is the Philips Hue Sync?
If you’ve never heard of the Philips Hue Sync, let me give you a brief introduction.
Philips Hue Sync is a great tool for Mac, PC, or TV which captures content you are listening to, watching, or playing and translates it into an immediate lightscript for an immersive experience.
Hue Sync is split into 2 products including the Hue Sync App and the Philips Hue Sync box. The Philips Hue Sync box allows your Hue products to sync with tv/movie shows on the TV. And the Hue Sync App allows your PC/Mac to control and sync your hue product.
What is the Hue Sync app?
This app allows you to do a lot of fun things, it is for both Mac and PC users. You can install this app on your device. It works with anything, really, even web browsing and music, but the experience is especially immersive when watching movies or gaming on full screen.
If you want to use the Hue app, you have to have a Hue bridge and Hue lighting in the room. It can be for all of your Hue devices.
The Philips Hue app is the most comprehensive way to control, organize, and customize your Philips Hue lights and accessories.
You also need to install the new Sync app on your PC or Mac. By adding the element of synchronized lights to your movie-watching, gaming, and music-listening experiences, the free app will offer a new level of immersion when you enjoy your entertainment.
What does the Philips Hue Sync Box do?
There is a power socket on the back, an HDMI output, a microUSB port, and four HDMI inputs. Your TV connects to the output with a short HDMI cable included in the box. While your sources such as a DVD player, an Apple TV, a console, a cable box, or something else can hook up to the four inputs.
The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box can let you create an entertainment setup that wows by syncing your Philips Hue lights to connect to the rest of your smart devices such as TV, gaming systems, and streaming devices. Use up to 4 of your favourite HDMI-connected media devices to get your full-room light effects, making your console gaming content or TV more captivating and vivid.
The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box is an enjoyable way to add interactive lights to your setup, with your box taking an input HDMI signal and synchronizing light colour to it. However, it just supports 60Hz inputs currently.
However for some users, they don’t understand the charm in a practical moving watching experience. Even video games they feel like they’d be too distracting. Does your eye start adapting?
Of course, many people still like it very much. It really adds to the experience and may reduce your eye fatigue. But you will still have some connection issues.
Connectivity Issue with Hue Bridge and Hue Sync
New technology and new devices will always have some problems for many users. It may be that the users are not familiar with how to use it, or some hardware and software problems. Here I will give some suggestions if you will have some glitches.
Hue Sync App Not Connecting to Bridge
If you have used the Hue Sync App, you may have some common issues with it. For some problems, it is difficult for you to find solutions online. I will list some issues to see if you have had them.
Issues With Hue Sync App Updates
Many technology companies like Philips often release new updates for their hardware or software. Some people tell me that their app often starts disconnecting randomly from their Hue bridge if Philips pushes new updates for either the Hue Sync app or the Hue bridge.
Many users tell me that their app would be lost connectivity once per hour. This is a very troublesome problem. You must want to solve this problem to enjoy it.
Here is my solution below.
Downgrade Back to Previous Hue Sync App Version
If your Hue Sync hue has been updated, your bridge would disconnect for a moment and reconnects again, it would happen to you several times a day.
Does it happen to you?
Now you can try to downgrade back to the previous version. You can uninstall the current version and reinstall the previous version if the Hue sync app on windows constantly disconnecting from the Hue bridge.
You also can keep the old installer files like “Hue Sync Apps” on your computer. So you can reinstall your previous version and uninstall your current version easily.
You also can wait for the updates from Philips Hue, they can solve this issue quickly as a lot of users will have the same issue. They release a new version constantly, you can see here. You also can seek help from their Twitter. But you can rollback the version if you don’t want to wait.
However, how to do if the method doesn’t work?
Issues With App Data
Many companies constantly updating and improving their App, making App more complicated to use, especially for the Hue sync App. With the continuous improvement of hardware and technology, the Hue sync App is also constantly upgrading. Sometimes your App maybe gets messed up, so it would be having connection issues.
So almost every software or App will release patches for the upgrading. When lots of users have various problems, they don’t know how to solve even if they do the various test. You must feel desperate at this time.
Ok, if you have tried a lot of methods and still can’t solve the connection issues even if you have downgraded back to the previous version. You can check the app’s data files.
Delete the Hue Sync App’s Data
By deleting the app’s data, you can let the Philips Hue app regenerate its own data files. This method has helped many people solve connection issues.
Mac
- Open a new Finder window.
- Click “Go” on the menu bar
- Press and hole the option key.
- Click the “Library” shortcut that appears.
- Find the Hue Sync app folder and delete a data folder called the “cache”, or a folder located at: /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/com.lighting.huesync. Delete this folder.
- Check if the connect issue is fixed.
Windows
You can find some HueSync folders in your User\AppData folder (within both Roaming and Local subfolders) and delete them. You can open it by typing “%appdata%” in the taskbar. Then the Hue Sync App you reinstalled will behave like a first-time setup to repopulate its own data files.
To open the AppData folder (Users\[your username]\AppData\) on window 10, 8 & 7:
- Open File Explorer/Windows Explorer
- Type %AppData% into the taskbar
- Hit enter
- Navigate to the “HueSync” folder (Roaming or Local)
- Delete inside the file in the HueSync app folder (Don’t delete “huesync” folder, just delete the contents of this folder).
Check Internet Connection Stability for Your PC/Mac
The Home’s internet network (not ZigBee) will be used for your Mac and PC to connect to your Hue Bridge on the Hue Sync app.
It might struggle to sync the Hue lights if your Mac or PC has a weak WiFi signal. There are many reasons why the WiFi signal strength can be weaker in certain locations and not others. For example, if there is any metal in your home that can cause issuers with your Wi-Fi. Thick walls in old houses can also make getting a WiFi signal impossible in one corner of your home.
Besides the Hue Sync app, there are also some reasons related to your Hue Sync box.
Issues Keeping the Hue Sync Box Connected
Lots of users have reported that they have various issues with the Hue Sync Box. For many users, the Hue Sync Box should be ready to use right out of the box. However, they could not get it to connect to the Hue Bridge via WiFi and could not get any solutions on the Hue website and within the manual.
The Hue Sync Box actually speaks to the Hue Bridge with Wi-Fi, not ZigBee. So you should consider a couple of things like your WiFi connection. Is it not fast/strong enough for the color data to communicate properly between the Hue Bridge and the Sync Box? Would anything change if you used an Ethernet cable between your router and the Hue bridge? Who knows?
There are two of the biggest problems for it.
Check WiFi Access Point
You may have an access point or two within your home if you like to use smart home devices.
Your smartphones, iPads, laptops, and laptops can use with a connection that blinks out sometimes. APs are also best used for devices that don’t require a 100% reliable internet connection. But you should ensure a steady internet connection for your Hue Sync Box.
If the AP is the reason that causes the connection issues, so how to fix it?
Connecting Your Route Directly
Don’t use the AP, just connect your Hue Sync Box to the WiFi router directly to see if it works.
You also can change the Wi-Fi channel from the router’s admin console if it doesn’t work by connecting them directly. You also can turn off the 5ghz network to see if it works.
Connection Order And The Hue Sync Box
If your Sync Box is connected to a third device then connects to your monitor or TV, then your Hue Sync Box may be lost connection or signal.
Now you should ensure that your Philips Hue Sync Box is your main hub for HDMI devices. Please ensure that the Hue Sync Box directly connects to your monitor or TV.
Conclusion
I found that many users have connection issues with their Hue Bridge. I have also gone through some research and come to some conclusions.
For the connection issues, there will be many solutions, one method works for you but may not work for others. I have listed six methods for your issues. You can try these methods to see if they work.
8 methods to fix your connection issues
- Rollback the version of the Hue Sync App.
- Rest both bridge and sync box.
- Uninstall both Hue and Hue Sync app and reinstalled them.
- Turn off 5ghz WiFi as it is just a short range connection (15 feet) and install the sync box and turn on the 5ghz WiFi.
- Delete the Bluetooth connection saved on your phone for your Hue Sync HDMI box and then reset it.
- Update the firmware on the Sync box.
- Delete Appdata files, it will be repopulated.
- Seek help from Philips or here.
I hope these methods can help you to solve your problems, if you still don’t fix them, please leave a message below, I will reply to you as soon as possible.