Setting up your Philips Hue lights is now quicker and easier than ever thanks to the latest app update

You can use QR codes to add multiple lights and other devices to a room at once.

Mar 21, 2025 - 12:52

Setting up your Philips Hue lights is now quicker and easier than ever thanks to the latest app update

There's a new update for the Philips Hue app that adds support for QR codes
Scanning codes on lights lets you add them to rooms in the app more easily
You can also use QR codes to add switches, cameras, and other devices

Philips Hue bulbs and lamps are some of the best smart lights around, and they're already pretty easy to set up; but a new app update has made things even easier, letting you add several lights to a room at once.

Once you've installed app version 5.38, which is available now for Android and iOS, you'll be able to simply scan the QR codes on several Hue devices to add them to the app together, rather than doing them one at a time.

That should be handy if you've splurged on a new set of smart bulbs in the Amazon spring sale, and will reduce headaches if you move house and need to set everything up again.

The editor of Hueblog.com has already experimented by adding a dimmer switch to their (no doubt extensive) setup, and reports that it works perfectly.

Philips Hue dimmer switch on sofa arm — You can now use QR codes to add lights to a room in the Philips Hue app, plus other devices like dimmer switches (Image credit: Signify)

If the device you want to add doesn't have a QR code, you can bypass the new option by tapping the 'No QR code' button, and the app will find it for you the old-fashioned way, then allow you to assign it to a room.

Still no AI

This is a helpful addition to the Philips Hue app, but we're still waiting for the major software update that will add the generative AI assistant that Signify (the company behind Philips Hue) promised back in January.

According to Signify, the assistant will be able to create "personalized lighting scenes based on mood, occasion or style," and will let you use natural language to describe what you want rather than using a photo as a starting point or picking shades from a color wheel.

The company hasn't announced when the new tool will arrive, but it should be available before the end of the year – hopefully in time to let you describe your perfect festive lighting, and have all your fixtures adapt automatically. I'm dreaming of a bright Christmas.