Philips Hue's smart lights are getting a connectivity upgrade

Hue is fixing one of its more quietly annoying limitations: until now, you had to pick either Thread or Zigbee on compatible bulbs and stick with it, which made mixing the Hue app with a Matter ecosystem an awkward commitment. The new dual-protocol support means you can run both simultaneously — keeping your Hue Bridge and routines intact while also connecting directly to Apple Home, Alexa, or Google Home. If you've been holding off on going all-in on Matter because you didn't want to blow up your existing Hue setup, this is the update you were waiting for.