Question :

I had a Philips HUE lamp that went rogue after 4 years of working without any problems, so I had to replace it with a new one. Installation was easy (as always) : it was immediately recognised by my HUE Bridge and there is no problem when I use it with the HUE.app (I am not using the HUE(Bluetooth).app since I have an HUE Bridge). Even the HUE Remote that controls to the group of lights that the old HUE lamp is in, immediately integrated the replacement HUE lamp.

But when I want to control my HUE lights from my Google Home devices and apps, all lights are still controlled properly, but not the newly replaced HUE lamp… I can’t control it from Google Home… What is wrong ?

Answer :

After connecting the new Philips HUE lamp to the HUE Bridge and the HUE.app, you need to also reconnect it to Google Home manually… Philips HUE doesn’t automatically update in Google Home (or the other way around)… To get things working in Google Home, do this :

• make sure that the new HUE lamp is working properly with the HUE.app and all HUE Remotes as intended
• then, make sure the group of lights that the new/repaced HUE lamp is in is turned on (so all lights of the group should be burning)
• now, open the GoogleHome.app on your iPhone (or iPad)
• when the “Home” page opens, click on the “Settings” button (the one with the sprocket/gear-icon)
• in the “Home settings” page that opens, scroll down to the bottom and click on “Works with Google”
• in the “Add Devices” page that opens, you will see a “Linked” chapter and a “Add new” chapter below ; since you already have your HUE lights set up in Google Home previously, you can click on “Philips HUE” in the “Linked” chapter
• in the small popup menu that opens, click on “Check for new devices”
• when the auth.meethue.com online login page opens, login to your Philips HUE account using your eMail address and your password
• in the “Grant permission” webpage that opens, scroll down to the bottom and click on the blue “Grant permission” button
• now the “Add Devices” page in the Googlehome.app opens, and at the bottom a message saying “Philips HUE is linked” will show
• then, the “Choose device” page will automatically open where you see all your HUE lights and devices that are currently not connected to Google Home, so select the HUE lamp’s icon tile that you have replaced and click “Next”
• in the “Connect Home” page that opens, drag&drop the HUE lamp’s icon tile onto the correct HOME icon tile (usually the HOME location that you have setup in Google Home) [ note that you can only connect the lamp to one home ] then click “Next”
• in the “Connect Groups” page that opens, drag&drop the HUE lamp’s icon tile onto each and every GROUP icon tile (of lights and devices) you want the HUE lamp to be in, one after the other
• when done, click “Next” and the GoogleHome.app will update
• when done, back in the “Home” page, scroll down to the proper group and test what happens when you turn the group of lights off and back on
• if everything works properly, you’re done
• if you run into a problem (now or maybe later on), try this :
• turn on all HUE lights
• turn off all running GoogleHome.apps on all devices you have and unplug all Google Home speakers, Google Home displays and Nest Hubs
• after at least 30 seconds, plug all Google Home speakers/displays and Nest Hubs back in and wait for them to restart
• now, test if the group of HUE lights that includes the replaced HUE lamp works as intended when using one of the restarted Google Home speakers/displays or Nest Hubs (if it works on one Google Home device, it will work on all the one that have been restarted)
• also test if the group of HUE lights that includes the replaced HUE lamp works as intended when using the GoogleHome.app on your iPhone (or iPad)
• now, everything should work as intended (in the very unlikely event that it does not, redo all of the above)

that’s it !

enjoy 😉