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

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.

You need to reset the hue bridge via hue if you have removed it from home before re adding it back in.

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.

@GregHTD

To make the process easy you would have to reset the lights/accessory first, so that the Bridge picks them up with a next search. Easiest would be to do that from within the app by deleting each light/accessory. Still not ideal but at least faster than using a dimmer switch.

Can you tell us which accessories you have? And did you try to unlink and pair again?

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

It looked like it was the same problem at first sight , but this time it was also in the hue app! So I didn’t have to disconnect from HomeKit and I didn’t perform the hard reset this time! After a while (hours) my light/bulbs were back online in the hue app and also in HomeKit. After that I changed the zigbee channel to see of this prevents my lights going offline.

My router is a Fritz!box 5490 with 2 fritz!repeater 3000, with latest firmware. Apple OS version is 16.5 on all apple devices in my Home, including Apple TV 4K and HomePods mini. Bridge info is in my post earlier today.

My other bridge does not have a problem and is also model BSB002

Another interesting wrinkle I recently noticed, is that the Home app through my Apple Watch Ultra appears to work fine, in that all of the correct statuses of my Hue lights are properly displayed. So it seems the issue of "No Response" for Hue lights is relegated to the iPhone Home app, which is unfortunate as I use the iPhone app far more than the watch version.

Me too. All our devices are at latest updates and same wifi. We moved the Hue bridge from one EERO unit to another. After the Hue bridge booted up, our Home app could see all the Hue appliances as before, but we can no longer control them with Siri, and the devices in the Home app are stuck on "updating". Left it overnight, same thing. After other things, finally removed the bridge from Home app on all devices, and rebooted the Hue bridge with a pin reset. Laboriously reconfigured all the lights and outlets in the Hue app on my phone. Able to control them with the Hue app. So then added the Hue bridge to my iPhone Home app. The Home app can see all the rooms and Hue appliances again, but they are all again stuck on "no response" and "updating". Baffled and frustrated.

As of 04-Jul-2023 suddenly all my Philips Hue lights and devices are connected in Apple Home again, like it was a few months ago. I did not do anything, and according to other threads it was an update from Philips that rolled out globally in early July. I am glad it is working normally now.

Update: later today all lights were back online, also in HomeKit. After they were back online I adjusted the zigbee channel from standaard 11 to an other value to see of this helps.

Hi !!! I have exactly the same problem. But I don't think 16.4.1a is the source of the bug. because my daughter's iphone is still on version 16.4.1 and she has the same problem. None of my Philips accessories are recognized by homekit on his device and mine.

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..

@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!