Philips Hue adds major app update with a third colour wheel

Philips Hue is one smart lighting brand that doesn't disappoint when it comes to new launches and updates. It's constantly releasing new products, with the Dymera outdoor smart light and Secure floodlight camera being the latest additions. However, it's the Philips Hue app that's now had a bit of a refurbish, introducing a third colour wheel to its smart lighting scenes. 

The app was updated last month to version 5.10.0, adding a number of different features, including improvements to security push notifications. Whilst Signify announced the update and confirmed a few of the new features, it didn't include details of the new colour wheel. Users were shocked to come across this, as it's quite a large update to the scenes feature altogether. 

Before the update, there were two colour selectors in total. One was a colour picker, giving users access to Philips Hue's 16+ million colour range, and the other exclusively controlled the colour temperature of white lighting. The new wheel works by only showing colour tones that occur in the selected scene, allowing users to customise their light without changing the character of the scene.

For example, my favourite scene is Rio as I love the mix of rich reds, pinks and oranges. Now when I select the third colour wheel, I'm able to see even more shades of these colours, so I can choose the exact dynamic I want. 

It's not entirely clear why Signify hasn't announced such a big update, but it may have had plans to include it in the next release. 

Before you go, have you read what happened when I tried Philips Hue entertainment lighting for the first time?