LIFX app guide

Scenes, routines & schedules

Three features, one job each. A scene is a look you save. A routine is a sequence that plays out over time. A schedule is a clock that pulls the trigger. Set your lights how you like them and let the smarts take control.

Three features, one job each. A scene is a look you save. A routine is a sequence that plays out over time. A schedule is a clock that pulls the trigger. Set your lights how you like them and let the smarts take control.

01 Scenes

Save the look, not the settings

Getting a room exactly right takes a minute of fiddling. A scene means you only ever do it once. Set the lights how you want them, save, and that state comes back with a tap — or by voice, assigned to a switch, or as a step inside a routine.

  1. Set the room by hand firstAdjust every light you want included — color, white temperature, brightness, and which lights are off. Off is part of the scene too.
  2. Open the room, then tap ScenesScenes live at room level, so pick the room you just set. Multi-room scenes are built the same way from the Home tab.
  3. Save current state as a new sceneThe app captures every light in the room in its current state — nothing to configure a second time.
  4. Name it for the moment, not the settings"Movie night" beats "2200K 15%". You'll be looking for it in a dark room with one hand free.
  5. Set a fade timeAn instant snap suits task lighting. A 5–30 second fade suits anything you'll live in.

Pro tip: A scene stores state, not schedule. If you later change a bulb's color, the scene is unaffected — it snaps the room back every time you run it. To edit one, adjust your lights until you're happy, then press Update in the scene's settings.

02 Routines

Light that moves with your day

A routine is the difference between a light turning on and a morning arriving. Instead of one instruction it runs a sequence — brightening, warming, cooling — across a stretch of time, on the days you actually keep that habit.

  1. Start from + Icon → New RoutineCreate a new custom routine from scratch, or start with a preset routine from the library.
  2. Choose the lights or rooms it controlsRoutines can span rooms. A wake-up can lift the bedroom first and the kitchen ten minutes later.
  3. Pick the days it repeatsWeekdays and weekends usually want different times — build two routines rather than compromising on one.
  4. Set the start point, then the durationA wake-up starting 30 minutes before your alarm runs a gradual ramp; a wind-down running 90 minutes drops temperature the whole way.
  5. Add the steps in orderEach step is a scene or a state plus a time offset. Amber at 1%, neutral at 50%, daylight at 100% — the app fades between them.

Pro tip: Routines can be anchored to sunrise or sunset rather than a fixed clock time, so they drift with the seasons instead of needing a re-edit in autumn. Perfect for outdoor lights that should come on 30 minutes before sunset.

03 Schedules

One instruction, on the clock

Where a routine is a sequence, a schedule is a single event: at this time, do this. On, off, a color, a brightness. They're the quiet workhorses — outdoor lights at dusk, everything off at midnight, a lamp that makes an empty house look occupied.

  1. Start from + Icon → New ScheduleAdd a schedule and choose the lights, rooms or groups it applies to.
  2. Pick clock time or sun timeSunset and sunrise track your location through the year — the right choice for anything outdoors.
  3. Choose what happensTurn on, turn off, or apply a saved scene. Applying a scene is how you get a schedule to set a mood, not just flip a switch.
  4. Set the repeat daysEvery day, weekdays, or a single one-off — a schedule with no repeat runs once and stops.

Pro tip: Schedule a scene, not just the lights on or off. Pointing a schedule at a saved scene means dusk arrives with the right color and brightness already set, instead of every light snapping to full white.

Which one do I need?

Start from what you want to happen

Scene

That's a scene

A single saved state you recall on demand. No timing involved — you decide when the room becomes a cinema.

  1. Dim the lamps, drop the TV bias light to about 8%, turn the ceiling off
  2. Room → Scenes → save current state
  3. Name it Movie night and give it a 5 second fade
Schedule

That's a schedule

One event on a clock with a long fade in front of it — the light ramps up over your chosen duration instead of snapping on.

  1. + Icon → New Schedule, weekdays only
  2. Set it 30 minutes before your alarm and give it a 30 minute fade
  3. Apply a bright daylight scene as the end state
Routine

That's a routine

On and off is a sequence, so one routine handles both ends of the evening instead of two separate schedules. Anchor the start to sunset so it tracks the season.

  1. + Icon → New Routine, every day
  2. Step one: on at sunset, applying your outdoor scene
  3. Step two: off at 11:30pm
Schedule

Schedules, staggered

Occupancy is about irregularity. Several schedules on different lights at slightly different times read as a household; one lamp on a timer reads as a timer.

  1. Give three or four rooms their own on and off schedules
  2. Offset the times by 20–40 minutes across the evening
  3. Anchor the early ones to sunset so they shift with the season
Routine

That's a routine

Circadian lighting is a full day of change — cool and bright in the morning, warm and dim by night. A routine runs the whole arc for you.

  1. + Icon → New Routine → preset library
  2. Choose the Circadian Rhythm preset
  3. Pick your rooms, then set your wake and sleep times