Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account
A lot of online services these days require users to create an account to access its features. Sometimes it makes sense, but other times it doesn’t. For example, why would I need to create an account to control my smart home appliances? This is why some users gravitate towards Philips Hue because it was never a requirement, until now.
According to a post on X by user @mysk_co, it has been discovered that soon, Philips Hue users will need to create a “Hue account” if they wish to continue using the app to control their smart lights. This was later confirmed in a reply by the official Philips Hue X account where the company claims that it will “benefit the users”.
Hello Mysk, thanks for reaching out. Believe us, this change can only benefit the users, when it comes to security. Soon it will indeed be mandatory to have a Hue account in order to control the lights.
— Philips Hue (@tweethue) September 20, 2023
As noted by @mysk_co, not having an account linked to their smart lights is actually a great privacy and security feature as it essentially keeps these lights disconnected from the internet, making them a little less prone to being hacked or hijacked. We can only imagine the chaos that would ensue if a Hue account was hacked and the hacker could figure out the user’s location based on the smart lights linked to their account.
It is unclear how this will work if users were to use apps like Apple Home or Google Home as the control hub for their smart lighting, and if Hue users would still need an account to link them with these apps.