- Ikea's smart lights can now intelligently adjust throughout the day
- These are not the first lights to achieve this, and Ikea is following the example of Philips Hue
- It remains to be seen whether these smart features will be expanded
While Ikea's smart lights – bulbs, lights and lamps – are generally much cheaper than products like Philips Hue, the furniture giant is taking a cue from the more expensive smart lighting brand with a new update. Oh, and Apple's too.
The Ikea Home Smart app for iOS now offers the option of dynamic adaptive lighting, meaning the various connected lights can intelligently change brightness and color throughout the day. Ikea puts it succinctly: “It’s great for the body, mind and soul.”
Like Apple Home's adaptive lighting or Philips Hue's “natural” scene, Ikea Home Smart adjusts bulbs to cooler temperatures during the day and to warmer hues toward the end of the day. Ikea points out that the adjustments are made automatically. However, considering that you can manually adjust brightness, color, and temperature, it's likely that you can override the adaptive adjustments or perhaps incorporate these into a custom routine.
Given that Nanoleaf and Philips Hue bulbs can be integrated into Apple Home's adaptive lighting, it remains to be seen whether Ikea's product range will integrate with this standard. Remember that previously you needed an additional hub to use IKEA products in Apple Home.
The update with dynamic and adaptive lighting first appeared in Apple's App Store on December 3, 2024, and the subsequent bug fix was focused on December 5, 2024. However, the Ikea Home Smart app for Android shows a new version on December 3, 2024 , but the Play Store doesn't detail the changes, as Notebook Check initially noted.
In any case, considering how affordable Ikea's smart light range is, taking advantage of a feature found on more expensive bulbs and ecosystems is a real win. It could increase the appeal of Ikea lights if you're thinking about investing in new smart home products.