Philips Hue Bridge Pro becomes smarter with SpatialAware

Philips Hue SpatialAware was already announced in January, and was supposed to be available in the first quarter of 2026. That didn't quite work out, but now the time has finally come - Signify has released version 5.66.0 of the Philips Hue smartphone app, adding one of the most interesting features yet to the Philips Hue Bridge Pro ($98 on Amazon), which is exclusively available for the newer, more powerful control center.

SpatialAware allows you to scan a room with your smartphone, which teaches the bridge where the various Philips Hue lamps and bulbs are located in the room. This spatial information can then be used to optimize scenes. For example, the colors in a sunrise scene should be distributed so that warm, yellowish tones are displayed near the floor and bright blue tones near the ceiling. This only works for scenes that support SpatialAware - this currently applies to around half of the available scenes.

According to Signify, it is possible to test both the conventional version and the version with active SpatialAware when setting up a scene in order to see the differences. The update also improves the Philips Hue Secure video doorbell. When the doorbell is pressed, the smartphone now displays an incoming video call that can be accepted to see who is at the door. Standard answers can also be recorded and played back when no one is at home.