Philips Hue is killing off support for the original Hue Bridge
Starting in April, the company says you'll no longer be able to use Philips Hue's original, first-gen hub to control your smart lights.
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The first-gen Philips Hue Bridge.
Signify, the company behind the popular Philips Hue line of color-changing smart bulbs and fixtures, on Friday said on Twitter that it's ending support for the original Philips Hue Bridge in just a few weeks.
After April 2020 no software updates will be made available for the Hue Bridge v1 and compatibility with our online services will be terminated at that time. The Hue Bridge v1 can still be controlled locally via the dedicated Philips Hue Bridge v1 app. >>
— Philips Hue (@tweethue) March 6, 2020
"As of April 2020 no software updates will be made available for the Hue Bridge v1 and compatibility with our online services will be terminated at that time," the verified Philips Hue Twitter account said in response to a customer question. You'll still be able to control the original bridge locally via its dedicated app.
Philips Hue lights use Zigbee radios to communicate with the bridge, which stays plugged into your router in order to enable remote control from your phone from anywhere in the world via Philips Hue's servers. The newest Hue lights include secondary, Bluetooth radios for simplified, close-range controls without need for a bridge at all, but a bridge is still required to access the most advanced Philips Hue features and integrations.
You will now need the square, second-gen version of the Hue Bridge in order to control Hue lights remotely.
First introduced in 2012, the original, circular Hue Bridge was followed by a square, second-gen version in 2016. That second version of the Hue Bridge added in support for Apple HomeKit , but Signify continued to support the original Bridge for customers who didn't feel the need to upgrade. Now, four years later, that support is scheduled to end.
"The Philips Hue team keeps working hard to enable new capabilities," a Signify spokesperson told CNET. "The Hue bridge v1 no longer has the resources to guarantee the evolution of the system -- from compatibility and quality, to speed and security -- thus we decided to end the support for it."
Per Signify's End of Support policy for Philips Hue, support for the first-gen Bridge is officially slated to end on April 30.
