Now you don’t have to start panicking and replace all your Lightify lights with lamps from other manufacturers. Until August 21, 2021, the Osram Ligtify apps will still work as usual. After that you can still control the hardware with controllers of other brands that also use the Zigbee protocol for device communication. Here is the ultimate list of usable controllers and bridges

Solution # 1: Philips Hue Bridge

The Philips Hue system is the top seller in Europe for smart lighting solutions. Hardware and lamps are slightly more expensive than in the Lightify ecosystem, but the system is robust and mature. Pairing processes work right away, creating scenes is a breeze and integration with Alexa, Apple Homekit, Google Home, Homematic, io.Broker and other smart home systems is guaranteed across the board. Your Osram-Lightify lights can be easily connected to the Philips Hue-Bridge (Amazon Affiliate Link) via the Zigbee protocol and operated from the Hue App. In my opinion, the advantage of the Philips Hue system is obvious: It is the market leader with an established solution. The danger that you switch now and then will be left empty-handed again, is the least. None of the following other solutions have this advantage.

Special offer

Philips Hue Bridge weiß, intelligentes Steuerelement des Hue Systems, steuerbar per App, ZigBee Technologie*

• Zentrales Steuerelement: Die Philips Hue Bridge bildet den Anfang und macht es möglich, ihr Philips Hue System zusammenzustellen
• Einfache Einrichtung: Verbinden Sie die Bridge mit dem LAN-Kabel mit ihrem Router, laden Sie die Hue App herunter und die Steuerung...

−17,05 EUR 42,90 EUR

Amazon

Solution #2: Integrated Zigbee Hub in Amazon Echo-devices

Amazon’s echo devices with the integrated voice assistant “Alexa” can also be used directly as Zigbee controllers. You simply learn your Lightify lights to the Echo and can control them by voice from now on. If you don’t like to give voice commands you can also use the devices as usual via the Alexa app. The direct control of Zigbee lights is possible with all Echo devices that have the integrated smart home hub, for example with the second generation Echo Plus (Amazon Affiliate Link).

Echo Plus (2. Gen.), mit Premiumklang und integriertem Smart Home-Hub, Anthrazit Stoff*

• Echo Plus hat einen integrierten Zigbee-Hub, mit dem kompatible Smart Home-Geräte ganz einfach eingerichtet und gesteuert werden...
• Neue hochwertige Lautsprecher mit Dolby-Verarbeitung erfüllen den Raum mit purem 360-Grad-Klang mit klaren Höhen und dynamischen...

Amazon

Solution #3: Samsung SmartThings Hub V3

“SmartThings” is a smarthome platform that is quite popular in the USA. Some time ago the platform was taken over by Samsung. In the European area the product is not very widespread, but is gaining more and more users. I myself have no experience with the system, but I think it is an alternative, especially in the USA and UK, which should be kept in mind.

Samsung GP-U999SJVLGSB SmartThings Hub V3*

• Überwachung und Steuerung verbundener Geräte via SmartThings App¹
• Erhalten von Benachrichtigungen bei Statusänderungen der verbundenen Sensoren

Amazon

Solution #4: “homee” smarthome gateway with Zigbee-Extension

“homee” is a modular smarthome system with web interface and app access The system can be extended with various “function cubes” (Amazon Affiliate Link) and thus also use the Zigbee protocol as a gateway. This also allows the Osram Lightify lights to be taught-in. However, the system is relatively new and the complete base station (Amazon Affiliate Link) is quite expensive. It remains to be seen how the system will establish itself, I see a little bit the danger of “betting on a dead horse” again when changing over.

For the price of “homee” you can already migrate to other, more mature Pro-systems like Homematic (Amazon Affiliate Link).

homee Smart Home Starter-Set mit Zentrale und Zigbee Cube - Steuerung per App - Sprachsteuerung mit Alexa und Google - Siri...*

• HOMEE VERBINDET – Mit dem homee Smart Home Starter-Set bestehend aus Brain Cube und ZigBee Cube kannst du sofort in dein lichtstarkes...
• EINFACH EINRICHTEN - Das homee ZigBee Starter-Set ist sofort einsatzbereit.

Amazon

Der Beitrag Which alternative controllers can control Osram Lightify lights? erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Customer information in exact wording

Dear LIGHTIFY User,

Unfortunately, we have to share some bad news with you today. After five years of service, we have taken the tough decision to shut-off the LIGHTFY cloud servers on August 31^st, 2021.

What you need to know now:

You still have plenty of time to react. The LIGHTIFY cloud servers will be available until August 31^st, 2021. Only after this date the LIGHTIFY service and support will be discontinued.

This means, that there will be no further updates and a connection to the Amazon and Google voice assistants will not be possible anymore. Compatibility to newer versions of the iOS and Android operating systems can’t also be assured thereafter. However, until then you can use your LIGHTIFY system without limitations.

As the LIGHTIFY System is a cloud-based system, the majority of functions will unfortunately be lost and LIGHTIFY app control will be only very limited. Here you can find an overview of all affected functions.

What you need to do after this period:

To control your smart lights and plugs beyond August 31^st, 2021, you need to fully reset your entire system. Afterwards you can simply integrate it into any other ZigBee® compatible system – like other smart lighting or smart home systems with intelligent assistants that are available on the market.

Why is OSRAM switching off the LIGHTIFY cloud servers?

The LIGHTIFY system is meanwhile technically outdated: Its performance (e.g. in respect to reaction times when controlling devices) is significantly lower compared to other systems in the market. Furthermore, the implemented ZigBee® standard is not state of the art anymore (ZigBee® Light Link and ZigBee® Home Automation instead of ZigBee® 3.0) which makes it more and more difficult to ensure compatibility to other smart home systems. The needed investments can unfortunately not be made – especially in regard to the divestment of the general lighting end-consumer business in 2016.

We post updates regularly on our website with updated FAQs.

As always, we will try to answer all your questions which can be addressed via our usual e-mail address lightify@osram.com.

Kind regards
Your LIGHTIFY Team

What are the alternatives to Osram Lightify?

A few years ago, I myself briefly tested Osram Lightify. The prices for lamps and hardware were cheaper than, for example, the top dog Philips Hue, but the usability never convinced me. The app and the cloud were error-prone and only usable with procedural hurdles. The integration into other smart home systems like Alexa, Homematic, ioBroker was partly complicated and after a short test period I switched to Philips Hue.

Special offer

Philips Hue Bridge weiß, intelligentes Steuerelement des Hue Systems, steuerbar per App, ZigBee Technologie*

• Zentrales Steuerelement: Die Philips Hue Bridge bildet den Anfang und macht es möglich, ihr Philips Hue System zusammenzustellen
• Einfache Einrichtung: Verbinden Sie die Bridge mit dem LAN-Kabel mit ihrem Router, laden Sie die Hue App herunter und die Steuerung...

−17,05 EUR 42,90 EUR

Amazon

The Philips Hue ecosystem will probably benefit most from the end of Osram Lightify solutions, because it is a mature system that can be integrated across the board. All major smart home providers allow the Hue system to be integrated and old Osram hardware can be integrated as well. So if you don’t yet use Philips Hue, you now have a reason to change over so that you can continue to control your lamps via app in future.

If you are sad, I can give you some encouragement: Look forward to working apps and streamlined processes, excellent integration possibilities and a well thought-out system without moments of despair!

Keine Produkte gefunden.

Controller alternatives from other manufacturers:

In this article I have also listed other alternatives: List of Osram Lightify Controller alternatives

Connecting Osram Lightify hardware to Philips Hue Bridge (video)

Ihre Daten werden erst beim Abspielen des Youtube-Videos an den Dienst übermittelt. Your data will only be transmitted to the service when you play the Youtube video.

All the links in this text are Amazon Affiliate Links, and by clicking on an affiliate link I will earn a percentage of your subsequent Amazon purchases. However, this circumstance does not influence the background of my product recommendation. This product recommendation is independent, honest and sincere. 

Der Beitrag Osram LIGHTIFY Cloud-Server will be switched off on August 31st 2021 erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

How to make “stupid” LED lighting “smart”…

In 2015, I bought new living room cabinets from Hülsta whose glass shelves were equipped with RGB LED lighting. Unfortunately, I quickly realized that the furniture was, as expected, of high quality, but that the control system for the integrated LEDs could at best be described as cheap and rudimentary. Here, the simplest RF remote controls from the Far East were used as standard, each of which could only operate one cabinet. So there were four remote controls for four cabinets in the house. The mini colour wheel of these scrap remote controls made everything possible, but no exact colour selection: In the end, each cabinet had its own color, even if you had been trying for minutes to set all cabinets the same.

I started looking for a system where I could control all four cabinets at the same time, but independently if I wanted to. So it had to be a system with a kind of control center, which then passed on the control commands to the RGB controllers of the individual cabinets. Even then, there were various systems to choose from: Philips Hue or Osram Lightify were in their infancy and some competing and alternative products from China were already on the market: Yeelight, miLight and all the other names

Cheap solutions are often big garbage…

First I tried yeelight, miLight and Co. out. I cut the original RGB controllers and wired the LED segments to these supposedly smart controllers instead. The result: The cabinets could be controlled centrally from a mobile phone with color controls, but interaction with other Smarthome components such as Homematic, ioBroker and Alexa was, if at all, limited and unreliable. In addition, the systems were often affected by failures. Especially after power failures I had to struggle more often with configuration loss or with the loss of the coupling between controller and control center. In addition, only a maximum of 4 controllers could be addressed with a central unit, which severely limited the expandability. In addition, these Chinese control centers caused strange data traffic in the network. One day, for example, I experienced that I could control my miLight lamps from the outside even without a WLAN connection to the home network. Sounds like a comfort function at first, but if you haven’t actually given any permissions to the outside for this control center, then it’s quite frightening. Living my own life in Chinese IoT devices is really the last thing I want.

How do I get a normal LED strip connected to Lightify or Hue?

Again I started looking for an alternative. In the meantime, I had learned that Homematic (my central house control system) was now supporting the Osram Lightify and Philips Hue systems natively. Although I knew that implementing lighting control with these systems would often be more expensive than with Asian products, they simply didn’t work either. But one concern remained: Neither Osram nor Philips offer products for their systems that allow existing LED segments to be controlled via cable. Instead, both manufacturers are trying to sell expensive LED strips with integrated controllers. I can understand this economically at first, but even if I were willing to replace my existing LED strips, I would not have been able to, because the LED strips are permanently installed in the glass shelves of my cabinets.

Meanwhile I knew that the systems Osram Lightify, Philips Hue or Ikea Trådfri all used the so-called Zigbee protocol to control the lights. With this knowledge I started to search for third market controllers that also worked with Zigbee and found some products that also promised to work with Lightify and Hue. I ordered a total of 6 different models from different manufacturers with prices ranging from 9€ to 50€ per controller. I also ordered the Philips Hue Bridge after I (a computer scientist by profession) failed to integrate an Osram Lightify Gateway into my network.

Ihre Daten werden erst beim Abspielen des Youtube-Videos an den Dienst übermittelt. Your data will only be transmitted to the service when you play the Youtube video.

The Zigbee controllers also separate the wheat from the chaff

After I had put the Philips Hue Bridge into operation, I started to set up the 6 different controllers, connect them to the bridge and connect them to the LED strips.

• 3 of 6 controllers could not be connected to the bridge. The devices were not found.
• 2 of 6 controllers could be paired, but switched off completely, as soon as you wanted to control the color temperature in the Philips Hue App, one of the controllers became extremely hot.
• Only one controller did its job with flying colours: Unfortunately, the most expensive one as well.

Apparently there’s still some truth to the saying “Buy cheap, buy twice”. I had to bite the bullet and spend almost 200€ on 4 LED controllers if I wanted a really clean and reliable solution.

Keine Produkte gefunden.

For 50€ per device I get a controller in a solid case, whose cable entries are screwable and which implements all input commands from the Philips Hue App perfectly. The devices are neat and stable, only the cable clamps could be of higher quality and easier to use. Tip to the manufacturer: There are good PCB connection terminals from WAGO, where you don’t have to crush your finger and which also fix narrow conductors well. Unfortunately, the controller is also not necessarily compact, which means that I cannot place it behind the cabinet where it is not noticeable, the housing is simply too thick, or the distance between the cabinet wall and the wall is simply too small. So I have to put the device in the cabinet and drill through the rear wall of the cabinet. But I would have had to do the same with four of the other controllers. Altogether one of the higher quality electrical products “made in China”.

On the inner values: When changing colors between red and blue, the color does not change from blunt to equal, but changes smoothly from color value to color value. The same applies when switching the controller off or on: The light dims up when switching it on and turns it off when switching it off. So the whole thing looks deliberate and of high quality. If I set the light to white, I can regulate the color temperature by increasing or decreasing the yellow or blue color components of the LED controller. Especially with RGB strips this is a big problem with many controllers, but the expensive controller masters this challenge to my complete satisfaction. Reason enough for a positive (german) Amazon review:

And what about the integration into Smarthome?

Philips Hue has a great API for coupling to external systems. My Homematic found the Hue Bridge in the network and I can now address the Hue controllers both from the Hue app and directly from the Homematic. This is especially great if you want to use the lights for optical signalling of events, see more below. The coupling to Amazon’s assistant Alexa was just as simple. Voice commands like “Alexa, cabinets blue” or “Alexa, sideboard to 50%” work perfectly.

Now that I have finally been able to put a networkable and reliable system into operation, I will now devote myself to the following projects:

• Red flashing light at alarm by alarm system
• Optical signalling “Washing machine ready” by three blue flashes (successfully implemented)
• Optical signalling “doorbell” by three green flashes (actually successfully implemented, if the bell sensor would not be defective)
• Integration of the cabinet LED lighting in an advanced Ambilight scenario of the television

Articles in this post:

Keine Produkte gefunden.

Special offer

Philips Hue Bridge weiß, intelligentes Steuerelement des Hue Systems, steuerbar per App, ZigBee Technologie*

• Zentrales Steuerelement: Die Philips Hue Bridge bildet den Anfang und macht es möglich, ihr Philips Hue System zusammenzustellen
• Einfache Einrichtung: Verbinden Sie die Bridge mit dem LAN-Kabel mit ihrem Router, laden Sie die Hue App herunter und die Steuerung...

−17,05 EUR 42,90 EUR

Amazon

Homematic IP Smart Home Zentrale CCU3 inklusive mediola AIO CREATOR NEO Lizenz, 151965A0*

• Die leistungsstarke Zentrale für Smart-Home-Profis zur lokalen und komfortablen Steuerung des intelligenten Zuhauses.
• Bietet zahlreiche und individuelle Konfigurations- sowie Steuermöglichkeiten über die bewährte WebUI per Webbrowser

179,95 EUR

Amazon

All the links in this text are Amazon Affiliate Links, and by clicking on an affiliate link I will earn a percentage of your subsequent Amazon purchases. However, this circumstance does not influence the background of my product recommendation. This product recommendation is independent, honest and sincere. 

Bei allen genannten Links handelt es sich um Amazon-Affiliate-Links. Durch einen Klick auf einen Affiliate-Link werde ich prozentual an Euren darauf folgenden Amazon-Einkäufen beteiligt. Dieser Umstand beeinflusst aber nicht die Hintergründe meiner Produktempfehlung. Diese Produktempfehlung erfolgt unabhängig, ehrlich und aufrichtig.

Der Beitrag LED lighting in furniture made smart with Osram Lightify or Philips Hue erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.