Can I run Twinkly, Nanoleaf and LIFX in one light show?

Why can't my lights just work together?

You start with a Twinkly curtain. Then a Nanoleaf string goes on sale. Then someone gives you a LIFX String for your birthday. Now you have three apps, three music modes, and three light shows that have never met.

That is normal. Each brand app is built to run that brand's lights. To get them playing one show, you need one controller that can see all of them at once.

What do I need before mixing brands?

A little setup up front saves a lot of headaches later.

1. Set each light up in its own app first. Make sure it joins your Wi-Fi and lights up there.
2. Use one Wi-Fi network. All your lights, your computer and your phone should be on the same main network. Guest networks often block devices from seeing each other.
3. Check the band. Many smart lights only join 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi.
4. Turn on outside control where needed. Some brands ask you to allow it. For Nanoleaf, connect it to Wi-Fi (not just Bluetooth) and turn on "Connect to API" in the Nanoleaf app.
5. Know what each light can do. A curtain is a grid of pixels, so it can show pictures and words. A string is a line. A single-color light can only show one color at a time.

Which brands work in one GlowBop show?

Here is the honest list, straight from our supported lights page. We only mark a light supported after we have run it ourselves.

• Twinkly curtains: supported. Up to 8 in a row, a stack or a grid. Twinkly string lights join in too.
• Nanoleaf string lights: supported. Hang them beside your curtains and they play one picture together.
• LIFX String: supported. Set it up in the LIFX app, then GlowBop finds it on your Wi-Fi. Other LIFX strips talk the same way but are not tested yet.
• Govee: color wash only. We tested the Govee Curtain Lights Pro, and in GlowBop it works as one color for the whole curtain. It makes a nice glow beside your wall, but it cannot show words or pictures.
• Built in, testing: TikTok-style Bluetooth pixel curtains, DayBetter strips and WLED.
• Planned: Philips Hue, and DJ and stage lights (DMX). None of these work yet.

How GlowBop handles it

My own setup is a wall of Twinkly curtains, a Nanoleaf string wrapped into a Christmas tree, and a LIFX String. Getting those three to play one show is why GlowBop exists.

• Find them all at once. On the LIGHTS page, tap Find my lights. GlowBop scans your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for every brand and adds them in one go.
• One live wall. The live wall is the editor. Drag every curtain and string to where it really hangs, add bends to a string, and the show plays across all of them as one picture.
• Snap to join. Drop a light right next to another one and it clicks flush like a magnet. The two shows become one. A glowing outline wraps the lights that share a show.
• Groups when you want them apart. Prefer the curtains on one show and the tree on another? Light groups let each group run its own show, and chips above the live wall pick which group you are controlling.
• Turn a string into a curtain. Tap Make it a curtain, pick a height, and GlowBop works out the drops and shows you how to hang it, snaking up and down. Now your string lines up with your real curtains.
• Line up your curtains. With more than one curtain, the line-up wizard puts a number and an arrow on each so you can rotate, flip and order them in about a minute.
• Your screen across every brand. Screen mirror puts whatever plays on your laptop across the whole wall, and each light shows its part of the same picture.
• One health check for all of them. Check my lights and Light health give every light a score, name the brand, and tell you why one is struggling.

And it all runs from one console on your phone, iPad or laptop. Scan a QR code and you are in, no app to install on the phone.

Try it

Drag a string next to two curtains in the live demo and watch them join. Then read the getting started guide to set up your own lights, or see everything on the features page. GlowBop runs on Windows 10 and 11, with a 7-day free trial.

Questions people ask