My brother recently moved to iOS after a decade of loyalty to Google. He has some HomeKit compatible products including Hue. He didn’t save the HomeKit codes. Is there a way to add a Phillips Hue hub to HomeKit without the code?
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HomeKit Setting Up Phillips Hue without HomeKit code
- Thread starter ipedro
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Have you looked underneath the Hue bridge? It’s normally under there. And it needs to be the square bridge, not the round one.
Yup, square bridge and there's just a blank placeholder where the HomeKit code would usually be. I vaguely remember getting mine many years ago and I might've had to peal the sticker off an included paper and onto the back of the Hue bridge. Is that how it is or does it come already with the sticker on the hub? If not, then my brother probably just threw it out with the box and included papers.
Alternatively, I found that some newer HomeKit devices have NFC so you merely have to be close to the bridge when you add it to HomeKit. Anybody with newer Hue setup want to chime in?
I had three bridges and all had a preinstalled label on the bottom of the bridge. I know some manufacturers also add the code in multiple places like in the user manual and a separate card contained in the packaging (Leviton and Logitech to name a couple) but I’ve never seen a natively supported HomeKit device that didn’t have the code somewhere on the actual device or within the device’s software (Ecobee).
I got my Hue bridges well after HomeKit support was already established. Is it possible these are a very early batch of the square ones that required a firmware update for Homekit and it’s buried somewhere in the software? I know the earlier Wemo Mini plugs did not have a HomeKit code on them but a firmware update allowed them to be added to HomeKit within the Wemo app.
I got my Hue bridges well after HomeKit support was already established. Is it possible these are a very early batch of the square ones that required a firmware update for Homekit and it’s buried somewhere in the software? I know the earlier Wemo Mini plugs did not have a HomeKit code on them but a firmware update allowed them to be added to HomeKit within the Wemo app.
There are no HomeKit stickers on his bridge at all.
Mine has far fewer information but has the HomeKit sticker in that white space between the brackets. Is there such a thing as non-HomeKit Philips Hue hub?
How was this Hub obtained? If pre owned, it’s possible the previous owner removed and set it aside it for future reference (by the way, I highly recommend the app HomePass for this purpose ).
Also, Try contacting the company’s support and see if they can retrieve the HomeKit code using the serial number. Maybe they have a database of this info.
It was purchased new from BestBuy. My brother has had it for a couple of years but because he was on Android, he never noticed because he had any use for HomeKit until now that he’s switched to an iPhone.
Now, he’s just pissed off and blaming it on Apple because “why does Apple need a code? I added it on Google Home without any code. Apple sucks at cloud services!”
I’m just curious if there was ever a time when Phillips included the HomeKit code on a peelable sticker that you’re supposed to stick on the bridge yourself and my brother just threw it out not knowing what it was.
Hmm, possible. You did say yours is different looking on the back so they may have changed it over the years. I’d still at least try customer support and see if they can help and if they can’t, just get a new one and carry on. They’re relatively inexpensive.
If you use the Philips Hue App and set it all up on there on the iPhone then go into settings ‘HomeKit/Siri’ you should be able to add the lights to each of your existing rooms ok homekit
