iOS 16.4.1(a) and Homekit - Philips hue not responding

Hi Guillaume Fiastre, we as Philips Hue are reaching out to you to better understand this issue. Unfortunate we have not been able to reproduce this in the lab, so your feedback is well appreciated. Can you tell me if you have used the "Reset HomeKit" functionality in the Hue app. If you go through the pairing flow and it remains "searching", at some point you will get the button "I need help". This will guide you in the option to reset HomeKit on the Bridge, and we would like to know if after you can pair again.

When you say you have 2 homes, I suspect you have 2 bridges. On one bridge you don't have the issue? Can you tell me the software versions of both bridges (you can find this under Settings > Software update)?

Sorry for the inconvenience this has caused! Thanks for your help!

Hi LEFBE, we as Philips Hue are reaching out to you to better understand this issue. Sorry for the inconvenience. Unfortunately we have not been able to reproduce this in the lab, so your feedback is well appreciated. From the steps you took, it seems you didn't try to reset HomeKit yet on the Bridge. If you go through the pairing flow in the Hue app and it remains "searching", at some point you will get the button "I need help". This will guide you in the option to reset HomeKit on the Bridge, and we would like to know if after you can pair again.

Hi, I’m having the same trouble, you can contact me as well – I am also not able to add home kit again, even after “cleaning up” the bridge. My version is BSB002 | 1.57.1957200040. I can give you some more details, contact me. It’s been like this for around 2 weeks.

Hi !  I've found ! it works again. I had the same problem for two weeks. 

I had to delete the homekit account that was still associated with the bridge, I redid a reset of the bridge and then it was able to detect the homekit like the first time.

But I had to redo the whole installation re detect each bulb but now it works. but for information I had not changed anything, the desynchronization with HomeKit arrived with the update 4.41.0

resetting the bridge with needle (physically, not in the app, use reset button on the back) helps, but i had to re-add, rename, reassign to various rooms 12 devices. That is so bad. I never gonna buy another Hue product because a) they dont know how to test before release and b) are extremely slow to act, over half month and counting without crucial functionality. It is not some small startup but serious lights/accessories system that many people rely on. Shame on you Philips.

I've tried that multiple times and it didn't help at all. I did:

turn off and on all devices using home including homepod mini,

Clear the data on the Bridge using Hue app

Unlinked from Apple Home

Readded Bridge by scanning the QR code on the back.

As a result I was constanly getting a Hue app pop-up "Apple Home sync error. Pairing with Hue Bridge failed. If the problem persists, please check for software updates for the Hue Bridge." and "Apple Home sync error. Apple Home was unable to complete this request due to a unknown error."

And then when still unlinked and invisible in Home app, when i tried to add Bridge again there I've got Home app error message saying "Unable to Add Accessory. Accessory is out of compliance." .

Yes exactly, it works only after a hard reset - with a pin on the backside of the bridge. Even though I’m glad it works again, but I have only 9 lights. Wanted to upgrade this summer and buy 50+ lights for outdoors, but can’t imagine I’d have to work through this with that amount of lights - it’s unimaginable.

@kennethbnl and @adamletko

can you confirm that you did try the "Unlink from Apple Home" button in above screen that I shared? But that didn't resolve the issue. What was the error / flow that you were seeing while having the issue?

Yes, I tried it exactly as you described - didn’t work.

I unlinked it and when I tried to re-add it to Home, I pressed the button on the bridge, it required me to scan the home QR-code on the bridge. I scanned it, it said it’s connecting / setting up (it was the iOS home window - bottom half of the screen), after few seconds I could see in the background that the Hue app showed some kind of error while setting up.. and after few minutes the iOS window told me it’s not gonna work..

yes, I tried but it didn’t resolve the problem. Problem started after the upgrade to Apple Security update 16.4.1(a) and at the same day an hue app update . Tried every thing that was advised in the community, even a new bridge from a starter pack (was not used before and not connected with HomeKit) caused the same connection / sync error. Also the latest apple update to 16.5 and latest hue app update didn’t solve the problem. The first thing you notice is that when you want to add the bridge to HomeKit in the hue app is that the bridge is not responding when you push the center button on the bridge and when it responds after using the unlink button from HomeKit is that when it tries to make the connection you allready see an error in the background that you have a sync problem. When you try to add the bridge to HomeKit in the HomeKit app you get an error like not compatible, or you first have to set up the bridge in the hue app. After the hard reset of the bridge I could add the bridge as a new bridge.

@Kennethbnl

Thanks. It's very valuable information that this issue is also occurring for a new bridge from a starter pack. I assume you can also resolve it for this bridge by factory resetting it afterwards? This makes me suspect the issue is related to the software update process, that is also triggered for a starter pack bridge. We will investigate this lead. Thanks all for the good feedback!

yes, you are correct, the new bridge from the starter pack also worked fine after the hard reset, with the other one I never had problems untill the 16.4.1a update. In the past I had the same kind of problem with a bridge from hunter-douglas / luxaflex, after an update from Apple and the hunter-douglas app the window blinds wouldn’t react. I had to hard reset that bridge to bring back normal communication between HomeKit and my windowblinds. Sometimes I still see strange behaviour (blind doesn’t follow the automation) then I always look if there is an Apple update and in 99% of the time there is, updating Apple then solves the connection problem, so no hard reset anymore on that bridge. So maybe it is not only a hue problem. Since the last 2 updates from Apple I also had a problem with my Netatmo CO sensor, in this case I solved the problem by removing the sensor in HomeKit and then with the Netatmo Security app Connect it again with HomeKit (I also tried this with the hue bridge but didn’t work / solve the problem).Strange thing is that I have also 2 smoke detectors from Netatmo connected with HomeKit and they don’t have this problem.

Hi, I do have two houses, each équipes with Hue devices.

both bridges have the same firmware 1.57.1957200040

both are linked to my Philips account. One is accessible via Internet and it has not lost its HomeKit connection. The other one is not available via Internet (due to Hue limitation of one only) and it has lost its HomeKit connection.

i will test what you are asking next I’m at home and tell you if it works.

thanks

Same here, after 16.4(a)problems using homekit with 3rd party bridges like Homebridge.

The software quality at Apple is decreasing (even worse) since they seem to concenrate on correct "gender-speech".

Hi @philipshue_devsupport

I tried deleting the HomeKit link from the Hue app, deleting the link as well from Apple Home App, rebooting my Apple devices in the house, then reconnecting, pressing "I need help", scanning the QR code but an error pops up in the Hue App as described by @LEFBE

I do strongly believe this is due to the bridge firmware update 1.57.1957200040

I do not want to do a full reset of the bridge as I have many bulbs, switches, buttons throughout the house.

How can a severe bug last so long? I trusted Hue for my house, I feel let down and need to switch to another brand now.