- Philips Hue gets new Sports Live feature for the World Cup
- It will sync Hue smart lights with the action during games
- You don’t need any additional hardware, just the lights and the Hue app.
As a long-time Philips Hue user and big fan of this brand of smart lights, I’m looking forward to trying out a recently announced Sports Live feature during the World Cup, as long as it doesn’t signal goals before they’ve actually happened.
Philips Hue lights have long been able to change color and brightness based on what’s happening on a TV screen, but you need a compatible TV or HDMI sync box to benefit from this feature. With Sports Live, the lights change in real time based on “live match data,” with no additional hardware required.
This is according to the announcement from Philips Hue’s parent company, Signify. Apparently the lights will change for ‘key moments’ such as goals, yellow cards and red cards, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“Easy to set up and in time for the world’s biggest soccer event of the year, soccer at home has never been more real,” says Signify, although it appears the feature will only be available for this upcoming tournament, which begins on Thursday, June 11. It’s a disappointment.
No spoilers please
It will also be interesting to see how this works. Live match data comes directly from the web to the Hue app, so you’ll likely need to tell the app when you’ve actually started watching it – and notify your smart lights if you decide to pause or rewind the action at any time.
I don’t want to be in a situation where my smart lights are flashing to tell me England have scored (or conceded, which is perhaps more likely), while the action on my TV screen is still several seconds late.
“The system allows users to fine-tune schedules to account for minor broadcast delays,” according to Signify. “If users choose to pause the action, the lighting effects are also paused and, upon resumption, synchronized with live match events for a consistent and accurate real-time experience.”
Sports Live will apparently support an unlimited number of smart lights, and there will be some level of customization on offer: you’ll be able to select your favorite team, and the color of its main strip will be used as part of the suite of smart lighting effects.
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