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Philips Hue's AI assistant is finally here – and if you have an iPhone, you can try it now

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You may need a VPN too

Split image showing woman controlling smart lights with her phone and pendant lights illuminated blue
(Image credit: Signify)
  • The Philips Hue AI assistant is now rolling out for iOS users in Benelux
  • If you live somewhere else, you can use VPN to try it early
  • The assistant lets you make custom lighting scenes with voice commands

The new Philips Hue AI assistant is starting to roll out now, letting you create custom lighting scenes to set a mood using natural language.

Signify (the company behind Philips Hue) revealed that it was working on an AI tool for its smart lights at CES 2025 in January, and promised that the new assistant would make it easy to create "personalized lighting scenes based on mood, occasion, or style".

The company has now got the ball rolling with an initial launch in the Benelux countries, but if you live elsewhere, then you can get around the geographic restriction by using one of the best VPNs to relocate yourself virtually in Belgium, Luxembourg, or the Netherlands.

Screen grab of AI assistant in Philips Hue app

Signify teased the Philips Hue AI assistant at CES 2025 in January (Image credit: Signify)

Make it personal

Fabian over at Hueblog.com, who is based in Germany, managed to get the assistant working by using a VPN to switch his IP address to one of the supported countries and changing his language setting to English.

With that done, he was able to use simple voice commands to look for existing lighting scenes or create whole new ones. That'll be music to the ears of anyone who's struggled to track down seasonal lighting schemes for their best smart lights at Christmas or Halloween, or doesn't want to spend time flicking through the presets to find something suitable for the moment.

The only drawback is that, for the time being, the AI assistant appears to be exclusive to iOS. Despite attempting the same for all three Benelux countries, I was unable to access the tool on Android, and a Hueblog reader based in Belgium reported the same problem.

The Hue AI assistant has only just started to launch, though, and I expect Android owners won't be left in the dark for long. I'll bring you more news about its availability over the coming weeks.

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Cat Ellis
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, having worked on print magazines including PC Plus and PC Format, and is a Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) certified barista. 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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