Do your Philips Hue lights keep forgetting your last settings? There's now a fix

Philips Hue Xamento M
(Image credit: Philips Hue)

  • Your Philips Hue Bridge is getting an update to fix a bug with motion sensors
  • The problem made bulbs 'forget' your settings when activated by movement
  • The update also improves stability for the Philips Hue Twilight lamp

There's a new software update for the Philips Hue Bridge that should fix a problem that causes your bulbs to 'forget' their previous settings. The bug meant that lights sometimes reverted back to their default brightness and color temperature when triggered by a motion sensor. That could be mildly annoying, or outright dazzling if it happened in the hallway when you made a late night trip to the bathroom.

As Fabian of Hueblog.com explains, software version 1969060020 also makes some general improvements to the reliability and stability of your Hue setup, and improves the operation of "certain models of the Twilight sleep and wake-up light". However, the official release notes don't elaborate on what these changes actually are.

The Philips Hue Twilight is one of the best wake-up lights we've reviewed, and we didn't experience any stability problems during our testing. For us, the only drawback was its list price of $279 / £249 (about AU$450), which makes it easily the most expensive sunrise lamp we've used. There don't appear to be any widely reported issues, so we're curious if we'll notice any differences over the coming days.

What else is new?

There are no details on the more general system updates either, though one commenter on Hueblog.com noticed a new feature when using a camera to trigger their smart lights, which makes it a more useful alternative to a motion sensor.

"I guess motion detection by cameras has something new too," wrote reader Davy Maekelberg. "Now [you] can set time when light needs to turn off again. Like with motion detectors."

To make sure you get the latest software releases for your Philips Hue system as soon as possible, open the Hue app, go to Settings > Software Update, and make sure Automatic Update is toggled on.

Do you have motion sensors as part of your Philips Hue setup, and have you noticed any changes in recent weeks? Let us know in the comments.

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Cat Ellis
Homes Editor

Cat is TechRadar's Homes Editor specializing in kitchen appliances and smart home technology. She's been a tech journalist for 15 years and is an SCA-certified barista, so whether you want to invest in some smart lights or pick up a new espresso machine, she's the right person to help.

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