Hue Bridge Not Responding To HomeKit? – 6 Ways To Fix It.

Hue Bridge gives you the ability to fully control your Philips Hue lights remotely from anywhere in the world via your smartphone, tablet or voice assistant.

From easily changing colors and adjusting brightness to setting up custom automations, Hue Bridge puts lighting control at your fingertips.

To make this bridge easier to use, many users pair it with Apple HomeKit to integrate it with the rest of their smart home gadgets and take control using Siri voice commands.

While HomeKit integration offers numerous benefits, losing the connection between the Hue Bridge and HomeKit can be a frustrating experience for users.

In such cases, controlling your Philips Hue lights via the HomeKit platform and Siri voice assistant becomes impossible until the connection is restored.

And this is the main reason why we are writing this article, in the following chapters you will find different solutions to implement when your Hue Bridge isn’t responding to HomeKit.

How To Fix Hue Bridge Not Responding To HomeKit?

Connectivity issues can be the main factor that prevents the Hue Bridge from responding to Homekit commands. Other factors like outdated firmware, internal software issues or a faulty Ethernet cable can also contribute to the problem.

So keep reading if you want to learn how to deal with this problem whenever it arises.

Solution 1: Power Cycle The Hue Bridge.

The first thing to do when you notice your Hue Bridge not responding to HomeKit is to power cycle the bridge. You can easily do this by unplugging the AC adapter from the wall outlet and waiting a minute or two, then plugging it back in.

I like to put this troubleshooting tip at the top of my list because of its ease of implementation and effectiveness in resolving connectivity issues and fixing internal temporary software glitches that may decrease your device performance and affect its ability to interact with other third-party apps like Apple HomeKit.

Solution 2: Reboot The Router.

Connectivity issues are the main cause of the Hue Bridge not responding to Homekit commands and rebooting a router is a common troubleshooting step for this as it’s used to fix issues with the router’s performance or connectivity.

Restarting the router restores its optimal performance and clears its memory which can be overwhelmed by handling a lot of data and processes over time.

The best way to reboot your router is to unplug it from the wall outlet and wait 60 seconds, then plug it back in (for battery models, you must remove the battery).

Solution 3: Connect To The Same Network.

If you’re connecting the Hue Bridge to Apple HomeKit for the first time your smartphone needs to be connected to the same router to which your Hue Bridge is connected.

The router must be able to support Apple’s Bonjour software, which allows you to discover other devices and services on the network.

According to Philips, if your router doesn’t support this feature, you won’t be able to use Apple HomeKit integration.

What’s Apple Bonjour software? Bonjour is Apple’s standard network technology designed to allow devices and services to discover each other on the same network.

Solution 4: Update Your Hue Bridge.

The next thing to do is to update your Hue Bridge firmware, it’s important to keep your Hue system up to date in order to enjoy the latest features and avoid all sorts of issues that the bridge may encounter like the one we’re talking about in this post.

If you want to make sure you get the updates immediately? Enable automatic updates for your Philips Hue system in the Hue app (Settings > Software update > Automatic update).

Solution 5: Check Your Ethernet Cable.

The Ethernet cable is used to connect the router or modem to your Hue Bridge and if your connection continues to drop or works very slowly, chances are you have a damaged cable, so consider replacing it to improve connectivity.

Solution 6: Factory Reset Your Bridge.

This troubleshooting step will delete all your settings and preferences on the device but it’s so effective at fixing glitches and errors that are preventing your Hue system from responding to HomeKit.

A factory reset process will erase all configuration errors and stored data that may cause issues and affect the overall performance of your device.

Follow the next steps to reset your Hue Bridge:

1. Turn the Bridge up-side down.
2. Press and hold the reset button for 5 seconds using a paper clip or a needle.
3. The LED on the front will blink to show that the reset is in progress.
4. Once the LED stops blinking, the reset is done and you can proceed to set up the device again.

Conclusion.

I want to point out that the tips mentioned in this article can be very effective when trying to troubleshoot connectivity issues between your Hue Bridge and HomeKit.

We recommend that you try each of these methods several times to determine if the issue can be resolved independently. However, if the problem persists, feel free to contact the Hue support team for further assistance.