Philips Hue External Access API

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I have recently purchased a couple of Philips Hue Lights Bulbs. I am looking into developing an app for them and I have it working apart from one thing.

I can only find out how to control the bulbs from the local network my phone and bulbs are on, however I also need external remote access. The Philips Hue supports me changing the light states even if I'm not connected to Wi-fi but I can't find any documentation on how to support this on a 3rd party app.

I have found something about using IFTTT but I can't find any info on how you use IFTTT for external control of the bulbs.

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androidapiphilips-hue
I also bought into this to develop apps. A remote API has been "promised" for a long time now with nothing at all being made public, so I wouldn't hold my breath. You can get an invite to use a private API if you're deserving enough. IFTTT has "recipes" for controlling Hue on their platform, but that's not much use if you want to build your own apps. – caprica
Ah I saw that they were promising a remote API, its a bit annoying if they've said that for a while and not done it yet. Hope they do it soon – Boardy

3 Answers

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You can now apply for access to the remote API on the developer portal. I'm not sure why they have the application when they could simply open it up to everyone, but it's worth a shot.

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If you don't have to stick with the Hue hub, you may take a look at kappa.io. It's a software framework of ZigBee coordinator that runs on Raspberry Pi and TI ZigBee dongle. The pre-built image includes API's that lets you control Philips Hue bulb, or other ZigBee bulbs, via http requests, either local over LAN or remotely over the Internet.

You can adjust color, brightness, on/off, and most importantly, do factory reset. So there is no risk nor it cost anything to try, except for buying the hardware if don't already have them.

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If I have not misunderstood your question, the easiest way to external control your bulbs, is to forward (In your router) your bridge' IP-address, and use your external IP-address to connect with.

If you are not sure about your external IP, you can find your external IP-address at https://showip.net: