OnSwitch Reviews

OnSwitch used to be great for years. So great I bought all the albums. Unfortunately the last few updates broke it. I was hoping the next update would be fixed, but 3 updates were released since then and still broken.

OnSwitch no longer recognizes the hub. Even when I enter IP manually, it seems to successfully pair with my bridge after it tells me to press the link button. Unfortunately, OnSwitch just says “no bulbs found” in the bottom of OnSwitch .

Luckily, I didn’t update OnSwitch on all of devices. The last good version seems to be version 3.2.25. I still have that version installed on my iPad and still works perfectly fine. It seems like a lot of other people are also having issues with the new updates. I just hope the developer reverts the changes made starting with version 3.5.0. Otherwise, OnSwitch is going downhill and I’ll no longer be buying the latest albums because OnSwitch is no longer usable.

(2nd update to dev response) this is 100% your app causing the issue. We’ve spoken in the past and it seems to still be an issue for your development team. Besides that issue… the functionality of selecting which light group to use is inoperable. When you try to select a light group it automatically selects a scene that you tried prior that’s somehow saved to that light group now, instead of the scene you’re trying to select. Extremely inefficient/clunky app that seems to have multiple development issues, and one massive issue that deletes all your HUE lights from the HUE app.

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(Update) OnSwitch WILL COMPLETELY WIPE YOUR ENTIRE HUE APP FOR YOUR HOME!!! ALL LIGHTS CONNECTED. ALL SCENES. ALL CUSTOM SETTINGS. DO NOT DOWNLOAD I’ve had OnSwitch for years and it’s been an ongoing issue with OnSwitch. It seems incredible, until it erases everything for the 12th time and you need to completely reinstall everything on your hue app. MASSIVE ISSUE!!!! ———————— I love the dynamic scenes in OnSwitch so much, but there’s a glitch in OnSwitch … whenever I use OnSwitch it completely wipes my Hue lights. I need to reload then all, organize them, set every one of my scenes again, reset my remote, etc…. It’s a HUGE issue and pain to do each time. Because of this (no matter how much I love OnSwitch) I can’t use it. I paid for a year and I need to delete OnSwitch.

UPDATE: I love OnSwitch so much I’ve tried rating it 5 stars 3 times now. I used to love ability to buy extra light options, but now they want you to subscribe instead of just paying for the one individual one you want. I used to recommend OnSwitch to anyone who has the hue because I loved the alternating color scenes. But now it’s really reaching for more money from users on a subscription model and I’m not such a fan anymore. Sure I could buy 9 of them for 4.99 but I just want one of those 9.

I also received a response from the developer, and the target of their response was focused on the price of the album. However I have used this app for a number of years now and I have previously purchased sets of one album, and now find that new items are added to the album but OnSwitch wants me to purchase the entire album all over again for the additional colors. My complaint is now three parts, when you purchase an album but then new colors are added and you are asked to purchase it all over again, and the fact that you have purchased items but now the developer asks you to subscribe, but there’s no discount for previously purchasing albums (I existed as a customer years before subscriptions existed) and there’s no way to get the integration of Siri or the favorites without subscribing. So I’m dropping an additional star.

I tried out the paid plan for the Super Bowl. I finally got the delay figured out by the middle of the second quarter. However, after halftime, even the max delay wasn’t enough to compensate for the steaming delay. We kept having lights go off even before the plays were happening, so it kind of spoiled big moments. Overall, everyone liked the effects, but all agreed we did not like the old time flicker strobe on the replays simulating a projector. There was much too intense of a strobe effect.

The additional effects are alright. Some are a little cheesy. They seem like fun as novelty entertainment, but not anything I’d use daily or anything. As such, I just can’t see paying the yearly subscription price for something like this, given the amount of use I’d actually get out of it. I’d consider a $10-20 one time unlock purchase, but I have no interest in this as a subscription.

OnSwitch has almost every light color configuration imaginable. Natural white light, movie theater, color flow, skies, china, fireworks, sci fi, you name it! Many of these scenes are paid to unlock content but the built in default ones which is half the settings are just as good albeit more practical for $3 the price I paid for OnSwitch .

Some scenes have these cheap sounding sound effects to go with them, which I think is really cheesy but kind of cute. You do have the option to mute these sound effects.

Recently after an update, the developer added 3 more scene theme sets. Some are free with a limited time trial and some are seasonal ones. My new favorite theme set is the color splat which I think is always free. It's so fun just splatting color into my room like a paint brush.

Only annoying thing about OnSwitch is if you do not close out of it (swipe the program off the screen), it overrides any other remote, alexa, or other HUE app. So when I try to tell alexa to turn off the lights, she does it and OnSwitch turns them on again!

All the scenes also get really expensive!! Be careful, I easily spent $15 on light scene theme sets even after OnSwitch costing $3!

Having used several lighting apps for Hue, this is in my opinion the best app available. The execution and creativity is spot on. This coupled with a developer that cares is enough for me. I would absolutely recommend OnSwitch. Overall consider me a promoter. That said, I have some concerns:

1. I have groups setup but I cannot turn off individual groups (well I actually can turn off individual groups but OnSwitch forces them back on). It leaves me with all my scenes executed in the entire house with no recourse.
2. I purchased “Skies” primarily for the “Night Lightening” scene except my night doesn’t have any lightening so it’s just sound. Interestingly the Demo version works and “Classic Lightening” works but the scene I purchased this for does not. I’ve deleted OnSwitch restored purchases and created new groups none of that has solved the issue. Hoping it’s something that will be fixed in an update or some issue with me that can be solved.
3. The pricing model isn’t for me. I don’t like subscription models (although I understand the benefits for the developer). The individual pricing is quite high. And scenes can be removed. Give me a 1 time purchase option for everything and I’m in.

I’m happy with the animated scenes though wish there were a few good disco types along with an included TV camera or interface to make that an all in one and definitely a camera roll color matcher; this COULD be the only hue and smart light app a person needs at all!...but these are just wishes. One Switch does what it does well and much simpler than other apps I’ve tried. I love matching my mood so easily. The subscription option is too much though but they do still allow for one time purchases for scene packs. Lower those prices a bit and this is gold. All said, I’m happy with OnSwitch and the packs I’ve bought.

Please allow for the sharing of OnSwitch and settings with family members soon will you? We have spent all this money for the house and I wish my wife could also use OnSwitch on her phone too now instead of always asking me to do it for her! Help a guy who loves you! Thanks One Switch.

First off, I love OnSwitch. I use it a lot to relax after a long day from work. I like using the skies lightning setting and sending the rumbling audio to my airplay enabled speaker in my room while I lay in my bed and rest for about 15 minutes. It’s so relaxing. However, I can’t seem to do that anymore. I no longer have the option to send the audio track from this app to an airplay enabled speaker. This is a major flaw with OnSwitch . I’m hoping I’m just using OnSwitch wrong otherwise not having the ability to send OnSwitch ’s audio to an airplay speaker or Apple TV kinda makes any soundtrack from OnSwitch totally useless.
Otherwise, the ideas and execution of OnSwitch are great. It can be a tiny bit difficult to understand how to pick ur rooms and if you have purchased past settings it can be hard to find them, but they are still there.
Keep up the good work, but please fix the airplay feature.
iPhone 7 iOS 11.4

OnSwitch has nice scenes and solid layout. The current version is placing the lighting scene I select to all the lights in my home, even though I have selected a smaller group of lights that I want to control. So while in OnSwitch, If I choose my office lights, and then pick a scene, the scene turns on (reverts my group to “all lights”) all the lights in my home. Less than ideal.

Update: The issue I was having was a result of misunderstanding the user interface.

Still it’s well worthwhile for anyone enjoying Hue lighting and wants to have even more fun with their setup.

with the recent addition of extended, free previews for upcoming lighting sets, i couldn't ask for anything more. this is far and away the best app for use with my hue lights, and it gets better with every year. the only thing i'd love to see is an 'underwater' effect, akin to that when you're scuba diving, and the light from the sun above flickers down through the aquamarine color of the water. i've asked for this for years now in the feedback section, and when i saw the new oceans set i was so hopeful. alas, it was not to be. still gorgeous, still fun. even with the prices, you will not be disappointed.

This is a great app and I use it for all sorts of fun around the house inside and outside, including light themes for the holidays. Halloween time is my favorite because I can turn my house into a haunted house! It’s amazing and my neighbors enjoy the light shows too!

My request: Can we expect to get support for multiple hue bridges simultaneously? This would be very helpful since I’ve recently had to get a second hue bridge and I can no longer sync my lights throughout the house anymore. Only one bridge at a time. This would be a great upgrade to the product. I’m hopeful. Thanks!

This is a returned version of an older app. I know that because when I went to comment on the new app I downloaded, the one for the previous first generation app came up. So, once again, apples App Store has allowed for a developer to make improvements to apps which exclude their core base and early adopters making them have to double pay for a version change. Love OnSwitch , under both names, just wish I wouldn’t have had to pay twice. I noticed this because my previous review was still attached to this “new” app.

As far as “perspective” responses from developers - that seems a tad contrived.

Updated review. I love OnSwitch. But I one-stared OnSwitch in an earlier review after almost a year, when the developer rolled out version 2 that crashed instantly on startup, with no clear solution, instantly transforming OnSwitch from great to utterly useless.

Developer fixed the problem and OnSwitch is back to its old greatness. I will be more reluctant to upgrade though; having been a software developer for a decade in a previous life, rolling out defective software like that was inexcusable; in my day someone would have been fired over a wide release so poorly executed. I hope these guys aren’t writing self-driving car software! Going forward, I’ll wait until a few days go by before upgrading OnSwitch; I won’t just auto upgrade it as I did in the past.

It gets five stars because it’s a great app. Just make sure any upgrade is stable before downloading; in my case this app had become my sole way to control nearly two dozen Hue and LIFX bulbs in my home, it’s that good. But when OnSwitch crashed, I lost the ability to control them (some don’t even have mechanical switches anymore) and was at the mercy of the developer to fix it. Not fun.

OnSwitch is everything it says it will be, and more. I have tried every HUE app I could find. The native app is fine, it's functional but utilitarian. I'm OK with that because I'd rather they spend money on product improvements and development. The ONE app brings the element of fun and fantasy that is missing from the others. I was really enjoying OnSwitch but watching the Super Bowl with lights flashing and sou ds coming from my iPad rhe wholemtime was astounding. I kept picturing people furiously smashing buttons Nani seconds behind the action on the field. I'm looking forward to the next live stream for sure.

Get this now. Don't dawdle. It

Such an awesome way to have fun with your hue lights and really show them off.

Also love that you can add the different groups created from OnSwitch as an apple widget for easy on/off of each area or specific light you wanted (just have to make each light a group of its own if that’s what you wanted).
Hue really dropped the ball when it comes to widgets. Their previous widget directly from the hue app was weak and the new “create your own shortcut” idea as a widget just comes off as lazy for how expensive the lights are… but again… OnSwitch kinda fixes that so there’s another reason for 5/5

The only negative about OnSwitch is that I would have to pay over 30 dollars annually continuously to have all of the scenes and all the ones that get newly added. I don’t like the idea of a subscription for smart bulb scenes. Lower the price or even make it a 1 time buy-in of 25 bucks and maybe it’d be worth it.

Overall, great and fun app with a bunch of awesome ways for us to show these lights off to our family and friends… that’s the whole point, right?

I am glad I found OnSwitch. Otherwise I would have been fairly disappointed with the Hue system. OnSwitch opens up the full potential of the Hue. Color changing lights to the beat of music. Its very creative. The fireworks are amazing. I bluetooth’d the music to a speaker system throughout the house and i have four lamps throughout the first floor and they all flash differently. It looks like a rave. I hope they continuously release new ones. It would be nice if you could tell which had music and which were just scenes. I would also like an option to buy all and all future releases. Put it up there for like 50$ or whatever. I would get that in a second and im sure others would as well. Outstanding app!!

App isn’t working right ever since the new update. I’ll open it & hit say Cool Color Splat & it’ll make all the lights full bright, no color whatsoever. I have to refresh OnSwitch & start over. Also, you used to be able to hit a setting (like cool color splat - I like the cool color splat) a couple of times to get the colors you wanted. Like if you opened the cool color splat it might start out with greenish lights. Hit it again & they’d be more purple. Hit it again to get them more blue. None of that works anymore. It’s great you updated it for IOS 16 but you lost some of the best features. Disappointing.

***updated***
They actually read my review and fixed the problem! That’s AWESOME!! Back to a 5 star for me. This has been my go to app for my Hue lights and the latest update makes it work flawlessly once again. Well done!

I care enough about OnSwitch to mention something. I usually don’t leave reviews but since I love OnSwitch I want it to improve. I am a designer and developer so this could be a little biased. I admire the creators of OnSwitch and I know bugs are common. The UI is simple and user friendly however at the moment of writing this it isn’t working. I can’t figure out how to set up my edited groups without other lights interfering. With the toggle on for let’s say all lights with the exception of one bulb, it doesn’t switch over. It’s a little confusing what to turn off to turn something off. For example if I want to shut off a group, it won’t let me. I want to activate another group, it’s still stuck on the group I turned off prior. I think an update is in order while they figure out fixes. Maybe user testing will be beneficial since this is my biggest pain point. All in all OnSwitch is great and I’m excited to see where it goes. Thank you this app.

Here’s the scoop: the scenes and/or albums for purchase are subject to be removed from OnSwitch in the name of the variety. Save for a recent disclaimer on the new holiday scenes, there is no transparency as to if/when this will happen to other purchases. Once the scene/album is removed, there goes your $.99-$3.99 purchase. This would be fine if there was full disclosure that your purchase is actually a rental, but again, there’s no transparency. You could purchase a scene and be none the wiser that it will be removed in a week. This was found out by users after their money was taken when previous albums were removed. I wish I had known this before I purchased scenes. I’m glad they made the disclaimer for the holiday scenes (probably because of users getting the word out in the forums), but I won’t make any additional purchases until the “keep your purchase” policy applies to all scenes. Or at least until it’s made clear which purchase is a rental. In sum, buyer beware.

When I got my Hue bulbs, I was first using the Philips Hue app but that seemed to limit the bulbs' capabilities. After trying a few other apps in the store, it was clear this one was the best for effects and for daily use. I like the large buttons and it's always clear what effect will turn on, unlike some of the other apps. I've been using this for a few months now every single day and haven't even needed to open the others. The new effects that come in and out of the store are super fun too! My whole family enjoys trying them out.