HomeKit Adaptive Lighting Feature Appears for German Beta Testers

HomeKit's new Adaptive Lighting feature has appeared for Philips Hue beta testers in Germany, according to iphone-ticker.

adapptive Lightning feature

At WWDC earlier this year, Apple announced a new HomeKit feature called Adaptive Lighting, which allows smart lighting to dynamically adapt according to the time of day, with warm hues fading in around sunset, and cooler hues fading in around midday.

At any given time of day, the color of smart lights with Adaptive Lighting would be slightly different and change as time passes, similar to Apple's Night Shift feature on iOS, iPad OS, and macOS. Although this behavior was theoretically possible before, albeit not as effectively, via complex automations, the Adaptive Lighting feature offers a single button to turn the feature on or off.

adaptives licht large

Adaptive Lighting was not present in any of the iOS 14 betas before its public release, and was instead promised to arrive later in the year as smart lighting manufacturers such as Philips Hue implement it. Adaptive Lighting will only be available where manufacturers actively support the feature via a firmware update, so its absence in the iOS 14 betas does not seem to be due to a delay at Apple's end.

Philips Hue has now reportedly rolled out a bridge firmware update to support Adaptive Lighting to its own beta testers in Germany. Only White and Color Ambiance bulbs support the feature at this time, according to Philips Hue.

adaptive lightning 500

Not much has been known about how Adaptive Lighting will work in practice until now, and it seems that users simply need to tap and hold on the specified light in the Home app, and in the color picker, one of the six saved colors has been replaced by an icon to activate Adaptive Lighting.

ios 14 homekit updates

A number of other ‌HomeKit‌ features were announced alongside Adaptive Lighting, such as activity zones and face recognition for cameras, doorbell announcements, and camera feeds on Apple TV.

It is unclear when Adaptive Lighting will be publicly released for Philips Hue users, but the news of a firmware update for beta testers in Germany suggests that the company is on track to deliver the feature as planned.

Related Forum: iOS 14

Popular Stories

apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Expected Later This Year With These New Features

Saturday July 12, 2025 3:09 pm PDT by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Rumors Faster Wi-Fi Support The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports ...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 16 New Features

Friday July 11, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are only two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:A redesigned Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that all iPhone 17 models will have a redesigned Dynamic Island interface — it might ...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Sunday July 13, 2025 10:30 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...
iphone 16 pro pro max

iPhone 17 Pro Models With BOE Displays Will Be Sold in China Only

Thursday July 10, 2025 11:59 pm PDT by
iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models with displays made by BOE will be sold exclusively in China, according to a new report. Last week, it emerged that Chinese display manufacturer BOE was aggressively ramping up its OLED production capacity for future iPhone models as part of a plan to recapture a major role in Apple's supply chain. Now, tech news aggregator Jukan Choi reports...
top stories 2025 07 12

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, iOS 26 Beta 3, and More

Saturday July 12, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
The iOS 26 public beta release is quickly approaching, while developers have recently gotten their hands on a third round of betas that has seen Apple continue to tweak features, design, and functionality. We're also continuing to hear rumors about the iPhone 17 lineup that is now just about right around the corner, while Apple's latest big-budget film appears to be taking off, so read on...

Top Rated Comments

RoboCop001 Avatar
62 months ago
I wish they'd implement fade automations. Like setting up lights to fade from one colour to another and/or brightness to another over a certain period of time. Seems like a no-brainer feature to have. I know some 3rd party apps do it but .... I want HomeKit to do it. I don't want to connect my lights to some 3rd party cloud just to do that, or use one of those bridge things.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ignatius345 Avatar
62 months ago
This is literally the first "smart home" thing that has sounded remotely worthwhile to me. And still, having Night Shift (or F.lux ('https://justgetflux.com'), to give proper credit) for my interior lighting would probably set me back quite a few bucks. Also, all the smart bulbs I've seen seem to max out at something like 800 lumens which is just sad and dim.

I'll probably just stick with my current setup, which is to use Philips 1800 lumen dimmable LEDs that skew warmer as you dim them and whiter when you crank them up. That so far is working quite nicely and provides ample light.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
62 months ago
I’m so waiting for this for my hue system hope it comes to the uk soon
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarlJ Avatar
62 months ago
HomeKit ('https://www.macrumors.com/guide/homekit/')'s new Adaptive Lighting feature has appeared for Philips Hue beta testers in Germany, according to iphone-ticker ('https://www.iphone-ticker.de/adaptive-beleuchtung-in-homekit-philips-hue-ist-bereit-164054/')
...
Adaptive Lighting was not present in any of the iOS 14 betas before its public release, and was instead promised to arrive later in the year as smart lighting manufacturers such as Philips Hue implement it. Adaptive Lighting will only be available where manufacturers actively support the feature via a firmware update, so its absence in the iOS 14 betas does not seem to be due to a delay at Apple's end.
Why is the name “Hue” not in the article title anywhere? The title makes it sound like Apple is beta testing this in Germany (since its a new feature of Apple’s recent OS release), while the article makes it pretty clear that Apple shipped the feature (well, the API) and Hue is beta testing this in Germany.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarlJ Avatar
62 months ago

Am i the only one too stupid for the Home App? That’s one App from Apple I do not understand how to set up at all. I still use the Hue App to control my lights. Every time I open the app it tells me the names have changed and if I want to update them and I am like NO leave it be (Alexa also uses the names) or I see my lightbulbs twice
I’m the other way around, I only use the Hue app to update the firmware or reprogram my Dimmer Switches (HomeKit can’t do the trick with multiple presses cycling scenes). I do everything else in Apple’s Home app. Yes, the first time you open Home after making changes in the Hue app, things get thrown around a bit, but that’s a one-time thing - for me it’s mostly some things getting put in the default room, that I have to move back to the right rooms. But the Home app is so much better, because you can build scenes that make use of lights in multiple rooms and make use of Hue and non-Hue devices, as well as building automations.

These days, though, I rarely open either app - I just tell Siri what scene to set, or what light to change.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarlJ Avatar
62 months ago

I find both Hue and LIFX have one major drawback, you can't use the bulb with *regular wall switches.
It should be intuitively obvious, though, that if you cut the power going to a bulb, it can’t do anything smart until power is restored. Using Hue lights involves rethinking the way you use lights. I have a few Hue Dimmer Switches, but most of the time, I just ask Siri to set various scenes. It’s so much nicer than walking around the room turning on 4 different lights.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)