Philips Hue Alexa Widget & App Setup Guide (Video)

This video clip shows you the Philips Hue Alexa voice-controlled lighting system in action.  I give a brief overview of how Alexa on Echo Dot integrates naturally with the gorgeous Philips Hue smart LED lightbulbs and Philips Hue hub.  Stay tuned in this multi-part video series so you can see all the cool home automation stuff that’s available and how to set it all up:

How to Set Up Philips Hue Alexa

1. Connect and set up your Amazon Echo Dot (or regular Echo)
2. Now set up and connect the Philips Hue Hub (aka “bridge”, which costs around $50 by itself, or comes with 2 Hue bulbs in the Philips Hue White Starter Pack for $70).  We recommend you install the free Hue app from the Google Play Store to assist you in setting up the Hue hub.
3. To get Alexa talking with the Philips Hue hub, go into the Alexa app on your smartphone and have Alexa “Discover new devices“.  While Alexa is discovering, you’ll need to press the big button on the front of the Philips hub to get Alexa talking to the hub.  At this point, Alexa should see the Philips Hue hub as a new device.  Success!  So we got Alexa and the Philips Hub talking together.  All we need to do now is get the bulbs talking to the Philips hub and we’re all set.  Carry on, my wayward son.
4. Screw in one of the Hue bulbs into a light fixture.  Then flip the light fixture’s normal light switch to the “on” position.  Why?  Because the Smart Bulb needs a current to broadcast its presence to your home’s WiFi network – which is how these bulbs operate.  The light needs to be on for the bulb to be discovered by your system.
5. Now use the Alexa app to “Discover” the Hue bulbs and add them to a Room (as the Alexa app calls them) or a Group (as the Hue app calls them).  You will need to press the large button on the Philips Hue hub for Alexa to see your bulbs and Philips hub.  Then you’re done!  Finish the last step to see how to voice control your lights with Alexa using the Echo Dot.
6. Finally, you can say “Alexa, turn the bedroom lights off” or other voice-controlled lighting commands like that.  Keep in mind Alexa will use the room name you entered when Alexa “discovered” the lights.

Issues with Philips Hue Alexa Setup

• Make sure your bulbs are named completely different names than your Rooms / Groups, because  the Alexa voice module may confuse the two.  You want Alexa to have the easiest time understanding what you want her to do, right?  So make it easy on her!  Name your bulbs different from your Rooms.
• If you have both the Hue app and the Alexa app set up, then make sure your Room names in the Alexa app are completely differently named than the Groups you set up in the Hue app.  You don’t want room names to cause a conflict in the voice control module of Alexa either.
• If you’re having trouble adding a 3rd Philips Hue bulb, don’t give up.  I had some issues adding my third bulb – I suspect because it seemed to be “1st gen” or “2nd gen” when the bulbs in the Philips Hue White Light Starter Pack that I received were most likely “3rd gen” Philips Hue bulbs.  But the third (expansion) bulb added after a few attempts.  It seemed to help “turning everything off then on again”, as well as closing all the apps on my smartphone.  This way one app wasn’t clashing with another (for example, the Hue app clashing with the Alexa app).

Wrap Up

Stay tuned for more videos and tutorials on the Echo Dot, Alexa, and Philips Hue smart bulbs!  Subscribe to the KFire YouTube Channel so you don’t miss a beat.