Hue Essentials is now available for Mac computers

The owners of Mac computers can now not only control Philips Hue lighting by using voice commands or apps on their iPhones. There’s a new way now since the famous Hue Essentials, which launched onto Windows earlier, is now also available for Mac users.

You can download the app from the App Store for free though some features will be missing in the free version. You need to buy “premium” to get access to all features. The price of “premium” features is $6.12. Buying additional lighting scenes or support for multiple connected hubs at a time is also possible.

However, if you were using Hue Essentials earlier on an Apple device and made in-app purchases, you can restore them on a Mac since it is a universal app for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and now Mac.

Controlling from the app should be the same as using an iPad. The UI is identical, excluding the side panel.

For now, I can’t tell you about my personal experience with the Mac version since Hue Essentials keeps crashing after launching without any errors. Since this also happens on another Mac, we’re assuming this is a common bug that will hopefully get fixed soon.