A lightweight Meteor.js Phillips Hue lights control panel.

App Status

Alpha version: Alpha software can be unstable and could cause crashes.

Repo

https://github.com/magneticore/welcome-home

Quick App Install

If you have NodeJS and Meteor already installed, setup is as simple as running meteor from the app directory.

Otherwise:

• Install Node: http://nodejs.org
• Install Meteor: curl https://install.meteor.com | /bin/sh
• Open the control panel in your browser: http://your_local_ip:3000

Requirement – Hue Bridge

After lauch, the application will perform an initial test to connect to the Hue’s bridge. Touch the middle button on the bridge and within 30 seconds click on the test button on your browser. After these steps the App will have permission to use your Hue bridge.

Options for Deploying

Now that you’ve tested the app, you may want to set it up to run all the time. There are a couple of options for this.

First thing’s first. The app needs to live on the same LAN as the lights it will be controlling.

Next, you could do a proper production deployment.

Or (much easier) since it will only ever be accessed over the local network, just run it in the background, using the dev server: meteor &

Providers/source

Special thanks to Kelli Shaver for the initial implementation.

When I test some new technology or framework I usually try to find a mini related project to do in a way that I could practice what I learned in a Webinar, tutorial or similar.

About a week or two ago I heard about Meteor.

 Meteor is a complete open source platform
for building web and mobile apps
in pure JavaScript.

My first thought was. Oh no! another JavaScript framework, but then I read a bit more about Meteor’s features. To highlight some:

• Radically less code: Accomplish in 10 lines what would otherwise take 1000, thanks to a reactive programming model that extends all the way from the database to the user’s screen.
• Browser and Mobile: A great experience both on the web and as a phone or tablet app.
• Live updates: Data updates live on the screen as it changes. Users can collaborate seamlessly.
• Ultra responsive: Changes made by a user are instantly visible, without the unprofessional laggy feeling that would result from waiting for a round trip to the server.

At this point I was curious enough to try it. A few online tutorials and videos and then I was thinking about what kind of project I would like to test the framework with.

Then I remembered how the Phillips Hue App is not particularly what I was looking for to control the lights in my home.

So a quick dive on the Hue’s API, a few sketches later, a bit of browsing in GitHub and then I was all set.

More on the app in the next post…