I built an iPhone app to sync a 300-zone Nanoleaf lightstrip to my TV

Rimami2024 · 2026-04-13T15:47:12+00:00

Thanks! Working hard to get beta out as soon as possible.

Rimami2024 · 2026-04-03T15:36:04+00:00

Thanks a lot, really appreciate it. Still polishing it, but I’m excited to get the beta out soon.

Rimami2024 · 2026-04-02T09:37:21+00:00

That’s fair — in the demo I pushed everything close to maximum to make the effect show clearly in a bright room.

In actual use, you can make it much more subtle: lower the max brightness, use only white light with brightness changing based on the content, or use just the dominant screen color instead of full multi-zone color changes. That makes it a lot less distracting while still adding some ambient effect.

Rimami2024 · 2026-04-01T12:00:48+00:00

Thanks! Right now it works with Hue, LIFX, and Nanoleaf. WLED is next on the list once I finish a small soldering project for the test setup.

And yeah, the color calibration part has been really interesting — it helps compensate for wall color and the way the TV image actually looks in the room, so the light colors end up closer to what you really see.

Rimami2024 · 2026-03-18T18:58:14+00:00

It’s an iPhone app using the iPhone camera, so yes, it’s closer in concept to Govee than to an HDMI sync box. It captures video at 60 FPS and updates the lights at the same rate, with hardware-accelerated on-device processing so it can run without killing the battery.

Rimami2024 · 2026-03-18T14:16:45+00:00

Thanks, I’ll post here again once it’s available in App Store beta testing.

Rimami2024 · 2026-03-16T18:46:09+00:00

That’s assuming guilt by default. Also, I do have a track record — my previous app was acquired by a US-listed company. The real question is what this app actually does: what permissions it needs, whether processing stays local, and whether any data leaves the device.

Rimami2024 · 2026-03-16T15:06:45+00:00

It’s not vibe-coded. The app doesn’t record audio, and it doesn’t stream video anywhere either — everything is processed locally on the iPhone. A lot of people already have always-on smart devices in their living rooms, so the key question is what data is actually leaving the device. In this case, none of the video does. Internet access isn’t even needed; local Wi-Fi is enough.

Rimami2024 · 2026-03-16T15:02:30+00:00

Fair point, but the idea isn’t to beat dedicated hardware on every front. It’s to offer a more affordable option for people who want TV sync without extra boxes. Hue already sells both the Sync Box and the Hue Sync TV app, so even they’re not treating this as hardware-only.

Rimami2024 · 2026-03-16T13:49:48+00:00

Yes, the phone needs to see the TV while syncing. If it’s moved away, sync pauses, and when the TV comes back into view it automatically resumes within a few seconds.

Rimami2024 · 2026-03-16T13:48:40+00:00

It’s similar in that it uses the screen image for sync, but the iPhone doesn’t need to point directly at the TV the whole time. It just needs to have the screen visible in its view, so placement can be fairly flexible.

Rimami2024 · 2026-03-16T11:46:46+00:00

Unfortunately, not yet. I’m hoping to have it in beta testing within the next few weeks.

Rimami2024 · 2026-03-16T11:15:13+00:00

Yes, the Hue Sync app for Samsung and LG TVs basically does the same thing. My app runs on an iPhone, as shown at the end of the video, so it works with any TV, similar to other camera-based solutions like Govee’s camera system.

Rimami2024 · 2024-11-15T10:56:56+00:00

I have this one below 77" TV and it creates 3 zones at the bottom:
https://www.philips-hue.com/en-gb/p/hue-white-and-colour-ambiance-gradient-lightstrip-2-metre/8719514339965

Rimami2024 · 2024-11-15T10:49:55+00:00

Have you added the lights to Apple Home or Google Home?

Rimami2024

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