Why I built GlowBop: my pool cage, my Christmas tree and the apps that couldn't keep up

It started with a pool cage and a pair of curtains

I live in Fort Myers, Florida, where the pool cage is basically the living room for half the year. I hung a couple of Twinkly LED curtains out there because I had a simple idea: turn the pool cage into a dance party for me and my girlfriend. Put on a song, and the whole place lights up with it.

The lights themselves were great. The apps that came with them were the problem.

Why the apps that came with my lights weren't enough

Every brand's app could make patterns, and they were okay. Some even had a music mode. But I wanted a show. I wanted the lights to feel the build-up of a song and hit hard on the drop. I wanted to run it from my phone with a drink in my other hand. And I wanted my Twinkly curtains, my Nanoleaf string and my LIFX string to act like one big light wall instead of three separate gadgets, each with its own app.

None of the apps were really doing it. Each one stayed in its own lane, and a light show that actually followed the music was always just out of reach.

So I built it.

What I built instead

GlowBop is a Windows app that takes control of the LED lights you already own and turns them into one live light show. It listens to whatever the computer is playing, Spotify, YouTube, a playlist, DJ software, and it follows the song: the beat, the build, the drop, the quiet parts. You run the whole thing from your phone, iPad or laptop by scanning a QR code. Nothing to install on the phone.

• Your lights, set free. Twinkly curtains and strings, Nanoleaf string lights and the LIFX String play together on one wall. More brands are on the way. See the supported lights list for exactly where each one stands.
• A show anywhere. The pool cage, the living room wall, the front window, a tailgate over your phone's hotspot.
• It moves with the music. 50 looks and 300+ effects that shift as the song changes, plus DJ mode when you want to play the lights yourself.

Then I wanted the prettiest dancing tree around

Once the pool cage worked, the holidays were next. I set up a Nanoleaf string as a 10 foot Christmas tree, and I wanted it to be the center of the show, not a side act blinking its own pattern in the corner.

So GlowBop got a Christmas tree mode: 22 tree animations, and the tree can stand right next to the curtains at its real height and dance as part of the same picture. Flip one switch and it plays its own tree show to the music instead. Holiday colors follow the calendar too, from Halloween to Christmas to the 4th of July.

Why I think DJs will love it too

Somewhere along the way I realized DJs could use the same thing. A light show at a gig usually means stage fixtures and lighting software. With GlowBop, a DJ can hang a few LED curtains behind the booth and run a show that follows the music, builds and drops included, right from a phone or iPad. Pro DJ adds autoloops, cue lists with a big GO button, Song Shows and MIDI controllers for gigs, weddings and events.

If your lights could do more, this is for you

If you've ever looked at your lights and thought "these could do so much more than this app lets them," that is exactly why GlowBop exists. You already own the lights. GlowBop just sets them free.

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