I have been learning about controlling the Philips Hue via their API. I also have been playing around with them in a couple SmartApps I found in the forums. I really like the Relax, Concentrate, Energize and Reading presets in the Hue app and I wanted to copy these parameters and create smart apps in ST so I don’t have to keep going into set them from the Hue app.
I noticed the Smartapps use values of 0-99 for brightness, hue and saturation but the Hue API specified them as saturation 0-255, brightness 0-255, and hue as 0-65535 where both 0 and 65535 are red (it wraps). There is also a color temp parameter that ranges from 153-500 (6500k - 2000k). It doesn’t seem like the hue values in ST map the same way and there doesn’t seem to be a color temp parameter. Is it possible to use the same values as the Hue API or is the device type for Hue bulbs written is such a way that it only accepts the 0-99 values?
Also… I would like to be able to set the color for a Hue bulb anywhere it is used in the system… not just in special Smartapps written for Hue. In the dashboard and Smartapps you can only select a Hue bulb, you can’t define any of the properties for a bulb. I wish there was a properties page that was part of the Hue integration so I could define the bulb properties anywhere the bulbs showed up in the UI. (i.e. be able to set the color from any Smartapp or dashboard where the Hue bulbs are selected.)
Another issue that drives me crazy with ST is that it doesn’t update changes until you lift your finger off of a control. Having to repeatedly press and lift my finger to make fine adjustments in dimming or setting colors or any other parameter is a really repetitive user experience and takes forever to get the values I want. The Hue app seems to do this nicely. @Urman said that this was a limitation of the ST system but I’m hoping that someone out there may have been able to figure out how to update values as controls are manipulated. Has anyone looked into this or is it really a limitation of ST?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.