Although it’s expensive, Phillips’ Hue Connected Bulb system is still quite cool. It’s fun and sometimes practically useful to change the color and brightness of lightbulbs in one or more rooms. Developer Charles Aroutiounian apparently feels the same way: he just released Hue Menu ($3), an app that gives you full control over the Hue system, right from your Mac.
Much like the official iOS app, Hue Menu allows you to change the color and brightness of your bulbs in a number of ways. There are color charts, plus the Mac’s standard color picker if you want a finer level of control. Presets are available, making it easy to switch to between settings that you like. There’s even a random mode, in which your bulbs change color every 15 seconds. Hue Menu will be handy for users who don’t want to rely exclusively on their iOS devices to tweak Hue settings, and might make the lightbulbs more appealing for office settings where Macs are in constant use.
