One of the best new features of Google Home is the ability to use it to control your smart home devices, like smart Philips Hue lighting.
For those who are still learning about this new device, Google Home is a smart speaker and digital assistant that can also be used to control a variety of gadgets in your home by simply asking. Google Home is controlled merely by saying, “OK Google,” followed by a command.
Philips Hue works with Google Home
Regular readers will know how much I enjoy smart home and automation, so I was pleased to see my Philips Hue coloured smart lights will work with Google Home. I was also pleased Philips wanted to sponsor this post, since I’m a big fan of their gear; it works well, it’s responsive and it’s easy to use and it’s fun and enhances my home.
When Philips Hue lights are paired correctly with Google Home you can say things like,
“OK Google, turn on the lights…” and that’s what happens. And pretty quickly too.
Or say, ”OK Google, dim the Living Room lights…” and my wish is Google Home’s command.
For a full list of commands that work with Philips Hue and Google Home check out my blog “How to talk to Google Home and Philips Hue”.
Hue lights easily controlled via an app, or now with Google Home
While Philips Hue lights are controlled primarily with the Hue app, now you can use the power of your voice with Google Home integration.
If you’re just getting started on the smart home lighting thing, you’ll need to set up your Philips Hue lights first. Don’t worry; just follow the easy in-app instructions and you’ll be playing with light and colour in no time.
Once the Hue kit is ready to go, you can then pair it with Google Home so you can ask for lighting commands to be carried out.
Setting up Philips Hue & Google Home
Here’s how to get your Philips Hue lights connected to Google Home.
- Head to the Google Home app. (Create an account if you haven’t already)
- Click the ‘hamburger’ menu (three lines) in the top left of the app, and select Home Control.
- Click the Add (+) in the bottom right.
- Choose your Philips Hue lights from the list; i.e Philips Hue Go, Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus, or Philips Hue White and Colour Ambiance bulbs.
- The app will walk you through what’s required to set up the lights, which is as simple as signing in to your Philips Hue account.
Once you’re set up, you’ll want to make sure your lights or ‘devices’ as Google Home will refer to them are named appropriately so that when you ask Google Home to do something with them, it knows which lights you’re talking about. You can also group them into Rooms so you can control everything at once.
The Hue lights work really well with Google Home. They’re quick and responsive and make it particularly easy to get the lights turned on if you’re coming home with an armload, for example.
You can also use the Google Assistant and Philips Hue lights for all kinds of things around your home.
What can you do with Google Home & Philips Hue?
You can connect a Hue Lightstrip Plus to Google Home to brighten the area under a piece of furniture to show it off… or connect White and Colour Ambiance Bulbs to react with the optional motion sensor to come on dimly if you get up in the middle of the night. Or you can ask Google Home to turn your Hue Go lamp on or off.
You can also set timers for your Hue lights so they’ll come on before dark, or be already on by the usual time you get home.
Of course you can also ask Google Home to adjust nearly anything about the Philips Hue lights whenever you want.
Just say, “OK Google, turn all the lights to orange,” and it will.
Google Home makes it even easier to control your connected home ecosystems, like the Hue lighting line. Just ask and you really will receive.
As you can see it’s ultra easy to control your Philips Hue lights with the new Google Home Device. Do you have questions about Google Home and Philips Hue? Post in comments below.
If you want to pick up a Google Home or Philips Hue starter kit, I’ve placed links below. As of 2023, the Google Nest Mini can be paired with Philips Hue bulbs.
*A note about Affiliate Links: Occasionally I will include affiliate links in my reviews. I do this partly for convenience of the reader (since I’ll almost always include a link to the company website or similar anyway) in case you want to read more or purchase but I also may get a small commission from the click, which helps me keep the blog running. If you chose to use this link I thank you greatly for supporting the blog.
This post has been graciously sponsored by Philips Hue.
