Starting JUNE 1, 2023 we have two Bluetooth APPs. One for GEN 1 LED Controllers. One for GEN 2 LED Controllers. The page you are viewing now is for GEN 1 LED Controllers. If you have a GEN 2 LED Controller, visit our GEN2 Bluetooth APP instructions here. Don't know which version you have? If you made your purchase before June 1, 2023 chances are high you have a GEN 1 controller. For clarification, see FAQ #20 on our Trouble Shooting Guide.
Boogey Lights® Smartphone APP (GEN1)
The Boogey Lights® Bluetooth Smartphone APP is for use exclusively with the Boogey Lights® family of GEN1 Bluetooth Hi-Intensity LED controllers. Simply connect your smartphone running our APP to the Boogey Lights® Bluetooth LED controller for a reliable, low energy connection to take charge of our Hi-Intensity LED strips like never before. The Boogey Lights® Bluetooth controller and this APP are designed to power our multi-color and single-color line of LED strips and pods for use on RVs, motorhomes, campers, trailers, motorcycles, cars, truck, semi's, ATVs, boats, golf carts and more.
What's Needed? The Boogey Lights® Bluetooth APP is FREE to download for either the Android or iOS smartphone operating system platforms. You just need to provide the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) equipped smart phone with Bluetooth 4.0 and use it with one of our Bluetooth enabled LED controllers. The APP has been extensively tested and optimized to operate on iPhones running iOS 10 and newer as well as Android phones running version 7.0 or newer. If you are running an OS version older than these listed (and your phone is BLE 4.0 capable), the APP is still likely to work. The functionality and/or screen layouts may not be fully supported. Sorry, if you have a flip phone it ain't going to work! If you're in doubt, we strongly suggest downloading the Boogey Lights APP (its free) and make sure it runs on your phone.
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ANDROID: Direct Download of APK File (v19) for Boogey Lights® GEN1 LED Controllers
Download the Boogey Lights® APP Operating Manual
Don't know if your phone is compatible with this APP? Download the APP and try it on your phone to see if it fits your screen size before you buy. Be sure to check your hardware specs too to confirm your phone has the required BLE hardware technology. While the majority of phones offered for sale today have BLE technology built-in, some of the low-cost handsets do not.
Features
- Easy to use sliders or color square allow you to control over 16 million color combinations by adjusting the level of Red, Green and Blue in your LEDs
- Fader mode allows you to dim and brighten your LEDs.
- ON/OFF Functionality allows you to turn your Boogey Lights® on and off from a distance.
- Speed control allows you to speed up or slow down the strobe and breathing lighting effects.
- Seven different function buttons provide pre-set lighting effects.
- Auto-connect functionality
- Assign Nicknames for us to 5 Controllers
- Progammable Color Rotation Feature allows you to program the controller to display two or three colors of your choice and then rotate those colors in sequence (Series 2 controllers only).
- Support for the Boogey Lights® family of Bluetooth Multi-Color (RGB) LED Controllers including our PLUS, SUPER and HEAVY DUTY wireless Bluetooth controllers (Series 1 and Series 2).
- Support for the Boogey Lights® 3Z Bluetooth Controller for Single-Color LEDs capable of controlling three independent single-color zones.
- Support for the Boogey Lights® Dual Zone Heavy Duty Bluetooth Controller for Multi-Color LEDs capable of controlling two independent multi-color RGB lighting zones.
Functions
- F1 = single color steady, optional dim and multi-color selection
- F2 = single color strobe, optional dim, speed and multi-color selection
- F3 = 7-color strobe, optional dim and speed
- F4 = 7-color switch, optional dim and speed
- F5 = single color breathe, optional speed and multi-color selection
- F6 = 7-color breathe, optional speed
- F7 = multi-color blend, optional speed
NOTE: The APP will only work with the specially designed Boogey Lights®Bluetooth controller. As with all of our wireless controllers, we strongly recommend installing a mechanical on/off switch (such as our pushbutton on/off switch) with this controller to avoid draining the battery when not in use.
NOTE: All Boogey Lights® controllers and LED components are POSITIVE switched devices. They will not work with components that are negatively switched.
What is Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)?
Also known as Bluetooth Smart, BLE is part of the Bluetooth 4.0 specification. With Bluetooth 4.0, a dual mode device such as a smartphone is able to support Bluetooth classic (BT) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) at the same time. Bluetooth classic is most commonly used for audio streaming to a device such as a headset. Bluetooth classic however consumes a lot of power and is always on. BLE is the intelligent, power-friendly version of Bluetooth wireless technology. BLE consumes only a fraction of the power of Classic Bluetooth. Bluetooth Smart extends the use of Bluetooth wireless technology to devices that are powered by small batteries such as smartphones. Bluetooth Low Energy is an "always off" technology. It transmits short packages of data and is not able to support audio streaming. As such it is perfect for devices such as our LED controller. What makes BLE different is that unlike traditional Bluetooth devices, you DO NOT "pair" the controller with your smartphone. Instead, when you want to use it you will connect to the controller with the APP running on your BLE equipped smartphone. When finished, you'll disconnect. The effective control distance for BLE devices are dependent on the environment in which it's used but typical control distances range from 50' when used from inside a building to 100' when used outdoors.
Operating Tips and Limitations
The Boogey Lights® Bluetooth APP and controller have been extensively tested to work on iOS and Android devices equipped with Bluetooth BLE 4.0 technology. More specifically, iPhones running iOS 10 and newer as well as Android phones running version 7.0 and 8.0 have been tested and confirmed to work. If you are running an OS version older than these listed (and your phone is BLE 4.0 capable) , the APP is still likely to work. The functionality and/or screen layouts may not be fully supported.
- The Boogey Lights® Bluetooth controller can only be connected to and control one smartphone at a time.
- Press On and the lights come on full power. Press Off and the lights go off. This does not turn off the controller entirely – we highly recommend the installation of our on/off pushbutton switch as noted previously.
- Bluetooth 4.0 is a low energy technology designed to draw very little power on the phone. As a result, the effective distance is limited in terms of how far away the phone can be from the controller and still connect. While environmental factors play a big role in determining the distance, you can expect a range of 30' to 50'. We've tested up to 100' and found it to be reliable but again, environment factors such as walls, where the controller is mounted and other electronic devices in the area will factor into the distance equation.
- Once you are done, turn the lights off with the smartphone APP ( OR – if you have the COMBO controller, you can also use the included RF wireless remote to turn off the controller). Now you can either tap disconnect on the setup screen, turn off your Bluetooth function on your phone or walk away. Be sure to hit the pushbutton on/off switch to keep the controller from drawing power from the battery.
Connection & Functionality: If you're encountering connection and/or functionality issues (and you've confirmed you have everything setup correctly) you may want power down both the controller and the smartphone completely (turn off) and then back on again. Also, make sure the controller is mounted in a location where the smartphone is able to communicate with the controller. Mounting the controller in a location that is surrounded by metal can sometimes impede communications between the controller and the smartphone.
Programmable Color Rotation Feature: The Programmable Color Rotation Feature is a complex set of lighting and feature instructions that take longer to send to the controller (and for the controller to memorize) than just a simple color change. Once those instructions are received by the controller, it may have to cycle through those instructions a time or two until you see the full implementation. Give it time. This lag is more pronounced with the Android OS than it is with iOS. In some situations you may need to press the 'Activate' a second time to resend the programming instructions.
Android Specific – Delayed Response: If you're using the Android platform, you'll likely notice a lag between the time you press a button on the APP and the time the controller performs the lighting change you requested. This lag is due to how the Android OS Bluetooth Stack is integrated with the hardware. It's not something we can control via the APP itself. The iOS version is quicker to respond to commands. The lag is more pronounced when using the PROGRAMMABLE COLOR ROTATION feature in that it can take longer to send the program instructions to the controller.
Color Selection: If when making a color selection the lights do not immediately respond, you may need to send the command again. This is particularly true in situations where the APP hasn't been used for a minute or two. This is because of the 'always off' design of BLE Bluetooth.
Color Matching: It is not possible to match every possible color (e.g. Candle White) AND some colors cannot be created at all with RGB leds (e.g. Orange). A couple of reasons:
First, there are different hues of LEDs which is determined by the Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) measured in degrees Kelvin. The Red, Green and Blue diodes used in our LEDs are the most common in terms of CCT to produce bright, vibrant color combinations across the entire color spectrum. There are however color shades that can't be created. For example, the 'white' our strips produce is a "day white" (some might call it a cool white too). They have a slight blueish tint due to the high Kelvin temp of the LEDs. With these LEDs it's not possible to produce a candle white, soft/warm white or natural white – all of which either have a yellowish or orange-yellowish tint to them.
Second, in the most simplest terms, RGB refers to the visible light colors of RED, GREEN and BLUE. In terms of light physics (not to be confused with ink/paint colors), Red, Green and Blue are referred to as PRIMARY COLORS. These are colors that cannot be created by mixing together other colors (well, actually, this isn't entirely true but for our purposes here, it will simplify matters). RGB LEDs create other colors by mixing varying amounts of Red with Green with Blue. The mixing of PRIMARY colors creates SECONDARY colors. So for example, mixing equal parts GREEN + RED will generate YELLOW. In terms of light spectrum color (different than ink/print colors), YELLOW is a secondary color. To create ORANGE, you need to mix a shade of YELLOW and a shade of RED. However since we're already using the RED diode in the LED to create YELLOW (equal parts Green + equal parts Red), the Red diode in the LED isn't available to be used to create Orange. Only the Blue diode is available. The result is that the color orange cannot be created with RGB light.
APP Crashes After Updating? If when trying to update to the latest APP version the APP is crashing when first launched the problem is not the APP itself. The issue is likely variables still in memory on your phone that won't allow the APP the launch. To fix this situation follow these steps in this order:
- UNINSTALL the existing Boogey Lights APP on your phone. It needs to be uninstalled completely.
- Power Down the phone completely. It must be turned OFF. Not restarted. Power has to be off.
- Power Up the phone. When the phone reboots, do not run any other APPs.
- Go to the APP Store and install the latest Boogey Lights APP version for your device.
At this point you should be able to launch the Boogey Lights APP. If after doing this you're still unable to get it to it to work, please submit a support ticket with us. We will need to know your phone's hardware make and model. Also, we need info on the Operating System version number and kernel version. We will research. In the meantime if you're running Android and wish to roll back to the previous version (10), you can do so by doing a manual install of the APK file. Version 10 of the APK file can be downloaded from our website. If you're interested in this option, let us know and we'll provide you with the link and password.
For additional troubleshooting information visit: https://www.boogeylights.com/trouble-shooting-guide/