



LIFXstyle

Control LIFX bulbs. Automate. Protect. Cloud-free

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Welcome to a world where you feel safer in your home, save energy and can enjoy lighting effects from cosy to practical. LIFXstyle gives you manual control over your LIFX Bulbs bulbs and makes it easy to schedule them for when you're not around. Plus other reassuring security features.

LIFXstyle works entirely on your local network (LAN protocol) and doesn't connect to LIFX's cloud system.

Manual control over each bulb and groups of bulbs (v3 gives you lamps / groups / locations / tags)

Appear to be at home even when you're not by scheduling your lights to switch on and off, or up and down, or use the new TV simulator.

Scheduled times can be slightly randomised so they don't look as if they're on a timer

'False dawn' and 'False dusk' which can be scheduled or started manually (just dusk) for lamps or groups

Access your presets / lamps from the status bar

Access your presets really quickly by assigning your F keys

LIFX Bulbs bulbs are low-power LED bulbs with all of the benefits of dimmers, time switches and colour adjustment

Detects your bulbs (you will need to connect your bulbs to your home network using one of the free LIFX mobile apps first)

Can 'Badge' dock icon with the number of lamps lit or hide the dock icon for status-bar-only operation

Alternatively Script your own colour changes and effects using Applescript

Alternatively, there's a drag-and-drop effects designer within the app for creating colour-changing or cycling effects

Recently added - support for multizone lamps (LIFX Z lightstrips)

Category:Lifestyle / Home Automation

Requirements

Mac OS 10.9 (Mavericks) or higher (10.8 users should use version 1.5.2)

10.9 (Mavericks) or higher (10.8 users should use version 1.5.2) LIFX Bulbs bulbs required

You will need to connect your bulbs to your home network using one of the free LIFX mobile apps first

Support

Read the LIFXstyle manual here

If you have a problem with LIFXsyle, please Contact us

Version History

version 3.4.0 August 2020

Adds manual option to renew UDP sockets which may help if lamps become unresponsive.

May cure a problem where LIFXstyle is in user's startup items and doesn't find the lamps right away and the lamps then never appear without manually restarting LIFXstyle.

Some general updates

version 3.3.2 January 2019

If location services is switched off, or permission hasn't been given for LIFXstyle to access the user's location, and the user tries to switch on 'Link times to sunrise / sunset' then the schedule dialog closes elegantly and information is shown. Previously the window would hang with no explanation.

App notarized by Apple (security checked and certified)

version 3.3.1 September 2018

Updates the list of products within the app, used by the Lamp Explorer window.

version 3.3.0 September 2018

Adds two preferences relating to groups: Groups display on/off state based on at least one / majority / all Using a group's on/off button also makes the settings of all lamps in the group consistent

The update check no longer able to perform the download, which has been problematic for security reasons. Instead visits application home page where the download can be made

version 3.2.2 September 2018

If manual controller (main window) is closed, clicking dock icon or double-clicking application icon will re-open the controller window

version 3.2.1 September 2018

dark-mode-ready for MacOs 10.14 Mojave (will respect the user's choice of dark or light mode in System Preferences)

Fixes small bug causing colours used in an effect to become slightly more saturated each time the effect is opened and closed

Fixes problem with the schedule window causing the controls to change colour / brightness to not always be visible when they should be

version 3.2.0 August 2018

Enables dark mode when using MacOs 10.14 Mojave (will respect the user's choice of dark or light mode in System Preferences)

Interface improvements: The on/off button for each lamp/group indicates more clearly whether the lamp is on at low brightness or off (Button goes darker when lamp is off, in light and dark modes.) The sliders for warmth, whiteness and brightness have graduated coloured backgrounds to indicate what will happen if you move them in a particular direction Warmth and whiteness sliders are completely hidden if the lamp doesn't have those capabilities

Fixes crash when switching to Schedules > Chart when using the new system

Version 3.1.4 released March 2018

Adds a box in Preferences:Advanced for manual entry of bulb IP's for a small number of users who find that neither of the regular methods of discovery work.

Version 3.1.3 released January 2018

Adds 'Turn all off' and 'Turn all on' to status bar menu, preset submenu

Fix to 'Turn all off' and 'Turn all on' in hotkeys

If an effect is running, and user switches lamp/group off (or selects a preset that results in the lamp switching off) then effect is stopped. Previously the effect continued running which could switch the lamp back on.

Version 3.1.2 released January 2018

Fix to automatic update check

Adds throbber in main window when lamps are being discovered

Version 3.1.1 released January 2018

Adds drag and drop functionality to the colour indicators. You can drag a colour from one lamp to another, or from a lamp to a group. This makes it easy to find a colour you like and then propagate that colour to a group or all lamps. The colour temperature functionality is supported in this.

Version 3.1.0 released December 2017

control strips for lightstrips are indicated with a 'lightstrip' icon

control strips for lightstrips have a '>' button which navigates the current view to show control strips for each zone in the multizone light, and thus control each zone separately

hovering over that button displays the number of zones as a tooltip

(groups / locations / tags also now have this navigation feature and hovering over the button in that case displays the number of lamps in the group as a tooltip)

when navigated to show the zones in a lightstrip / multizone lamp, and after pressing [+] to make a preset, a dialog asks whether the preset should apply to just the multizone lamp or all lamps that LIFXstyle knows about. (This 'inclusion' or lamps affected by the preset can be altered later from the 'Manage presets' window.)

effects can be applied individually to zones

if applied to a whole multizone strip, an effect now has a setting for 'rotating' the effect

adds improved 'about box' which displays licence key and licensed email address

Support for multizone lamps (LIFX Z strips):Other enhancements:

Version 3.0.6 (no longer beta) released December 2017

Sorts out some issues with dragging using the little grippie in the corner of each control strip

Fixes window resizing issue

Restores and improves the Lamp Explorer tool (View > Lamp Explorer)

Fixes minor issue with navigation when setting the affected lamps for a preset

*Existing users* - please note that this version may display the licensing panel, even though you are licensed. This is a side-effect of making an major update to the Paddle licence key framework within the app. Your existing key is valid, there is no upgrade fee and no need to buy again (unless you want to show your gratitude once more.) If you receive a 'too many activations' message, contact support, it's an easy matter to reset your key.

Version 3.0.5 (beta) released December 2017

Adds new colour picker and warmth functionality to effects designer

Improves effect consistency (should continue at the same speed when LIFXstyle is in the background or screensaver kicks in)

Animates 'effect' button in control strips, so it's clear when an effect is running

Other interface improvements (Adds toolbar 'effects' button, sorts out some inconsistent context button hiding in the schedule editing popover)

Version 3.0.4 (beta) released December 2017

Control strips can only be dragged using the little grippie in the corner, preventing accidental and confusing drags when you accidentally miss a slider

Control strips take into account the capabilities of the lamp, eg hiding the warmth and colour controls if the lamp can only display a fixed white light

Efficiency improvements

Version 3.0.3 (beta) released November 2017

Small changes to the appearance of the navigator (left-hand panel)

Adds 10.9 (Mavericks) support

Version 3.0.2 (beta) released November 2017

Fixes problem using scrollwheel over colourpicker (to adjust brightness) if whites / warmth are selected.

Fixes some duplication in the status menu

Fixes little glitch with layout selector in toolbar and view > layout menu when selecting the minimal layout

Fixes issue with Preferences window

Sorts out some problems saving presets

Adds 'warmth' slider to schedule settings window, so varying warmth values can be scheduled now

Version 3.0.1 (beta) released November 2017

Fixes problems with schedules involving groups/tags which were created using v2.x

Version 3.0 (beta) released November 2017

Connectivity with the lamps now handled by our own new code rather than LIFX's own framework (which had been unsupported and become out-of-date). This may or may not improve connectivity right away (though in early testing it appears reliable and responsive) but at least we will be able to diagnose and fix problems, and keep it up to date with developments to the LIFX LAN protocol

UI improved. Now allows you to select 'groups' and 'locations' (which will be in sync with other apps / the LIFX cloud system) and 'tags'. Each bulb can be in only one Group and Location (groups are location-specific). But bulbs can have more than one 'tag'. 'Tags' are actually what was called 'groups' in previous LIFXstyle versions. This was done for UI consistency with our Hue app, we didn't forsee LIFX adding 'groups' as a different concept.

A new layout added (making four options now for layout) - a minimal layout that puts the minimum controls into small blocks.

A custom colour-picker added, replacing the use of the standard MacOS colour picker. The new one is clean and geared towards smartbulbs, and switches between colour and whites.

Redesigned on/off buttons give an indication of colour and brightness

Status bar menu improved - now shows lamps / groups / locations / tags / all (according to what's selected in the main window) with coloured dots to indicate status and colour setting. These can be clicked to switch the lamp / group on or off

Still works entirely on the local network, not using LIFX's cloud system at all..

Version 2.0.2 released November 2017

Fixes an instability which may have caused random crashes hourly or daily depending on settings.

Adds 'View' control to toolbar. This setting (3 layouts) has been available before but tucked away in the menus.

Version 2.0.1 released September 2017

Adds debug console (not for general use)

Fixes problem with 'Lamp Explorer' window, could crash app if closed and re-opened

Some work towards compatibility with High Sierra

version 2.0 (beta) August 2017

Adds Effects designer, 'pre-loaded' with some effects, TV simulator, Fire, plus two which are designed to replace the old 'false dawn' and 'false dusk'. The new dawn / dusk effects change colour through gold and blue while reducing or increasing the light in order to simulate dawn or dusk more realistically. More importantly, they're editable and you can customise them as you see fit.

If you did have any 'false dawn / dusk' set up on schedule, you'll need to open these and change them to 'Effect' and choose the appropriate effect.

Adds ability to set F13 - F19 as 'hotkeys', useful for users of extended keyboards (there's no conflict with the newer functions of the function keys - brightness, volume etc)

Version 1.7.1 released February 2016

Small bug fix which may improve the reliability of scheduled switching

Version 1.7 released November 2015

Adds 'Chart' option for visualising schedules (gantt chart)

Version 1.6 released July 2015

Adds 'warmth' control to control strips. This relates to the LIFX bulbs' kelvin control - the white point. This affects whites or any colour, making the light warmer or cooler.

Version 1.5.4 released May 2015

includes an update to the LIFXKit which should fix a crash on startup experienced by users with the new white bulbs

Version 1.5.3 released Apr 2015

Improves sunrise/sunset lookup for more accurate times - or at least corresponding with more of the online services

Adds option to preferences: 'only show groups, not individual lamps' - allows users with many lamps to have a cleaner control panel

Fixes Schedule 'link to sunrise/sunset' button not showing when action is 'trigger preset'

Fixes LIFXstyle failing to quit and preventing logout or restart

Tested on 2.0 firmware

Updates LIFX framework within LIFXstyle, which has various benefits but unfortunately, minimum OS supported has had to be raised to 10.9

Version 1.5.2 released Feb 2015

Fixes problem with strips forgetting re-ordering after certain actions (actions which change the number of strips such as make / delete group)

Adds a grippie in the corner of the strips to indicate that they can be dragged to reorder, and provide a convenient handle

Adds standard peacockmedia update notification functionality

Version 1.5.1 released Jan 2015

Fixes problem with hotkey modifier - was requiring quit and restart when changed, now instant

Fixes problem with sunrise/sunset times - was sometimes failing to acquire user's location but was still requesting times for an incorrect location - therefore times could appear quite wrong.

Warns if user saves a schedule with a logical inconsistency, eg 'trigger preset' as the action but a group or lamp selected rather than a preset. The buttons themselves do try to prevent this with certain permutations.

Version 1.5 released Jan 2015

Adds ability to schedule presets

Adds ability to edit which lamps are affected or left unaffected by a preset (Manage presets from the toolbar button or Lights menu, then select preset and press 'Lamps affected')

Adds button 'Manage hotkeys' to preset window for convenience

Hotkey preferences are now updated when a preset is renamed

Adds 'manage presets...' to Lights menu

Version 1.4.1 released Dec 2014

Improves scripting - allows access to lamps within a group. Documentation updated at https://blog.peacockmedia.software/2014/12/scripting-to-create-effects-with-your.html

Adds preference to hide dock icon

Version 1.4 released Dec 2014

Improves scripting, allows applescript access to bulbs and groups, ability to read and set hue, brightness, whiteness and on/off state https://blog.peacockmedia.software/2014/12/scripting-to-create-effects-with-your.html

Fixes bug which was causing times to be shifted by an hour when using sunrise/sunset

Version 1.3 released Nov 2014

Adds drag-and-drop to re-order control strips

Adds limited scripting support - as per Hue-topia ('All Blink' isn't supported yet) https://blog.peacockmedia.software/2014/10/huetopia-is-now-scriptable.html

Version 1.2.2 released Oct 2014

Takes the app out of beta and adds licensing ($8 or ~£5 / ~€5)

Version 1.2 released Oct 2014

First public beta