My wife and I are building a new home and we have Govee lights all around the outside and inside but I can’t figure out what to do for the front porch light. There’s no can light housing in the ceiling so it’s just a 4-6” circle cut into the ceiling boards.

So basically this needs to be some kind of clip in device similar to what we did with the Govee recessed down light 2 we installed throughout the inside. Obviously those clip ins won’t work outside so I’m looking for ideas or maybe even what you have done to have Govee on the front porch ceiling light

I’m also open to buying a cheap housing they can accept Govee bulbs if that is a thing.

I have the Govee outdoor string lights 2, and was on the cusp of buying the Govee uplighter floor lamp but I decided not to due to the lackluster home assistant integration. For the outdoor lights I've tried a bunch of ways to integrate it into my smart home, but the only consistent access I was able to get is turning the lights on and off from HA. I would've loved to have different lighting effects when setting different scenes through HA but alas I can only choose a single one to turn on/off, or else I have to go into a specific app to control a single light.

I simply don't understand it; people who like these kind of things probably have a multitude of lights (and other devices) from a wide range of brands in their smart house. For some reason unbeknownst to me it seems that these smart-home companies (including Govee) don't understand this and all assume that they are the sole automation system present and that the user needs to be locked down to prevent them from moving to other ecosystems. This is simply not the case. The user has MANY different devices of MANY different brands, and locking your device to a brand-ecosystem (or god forbid, a cloud service) just means people can't use the device in the way that they desire.

Home Assistant aims to unify all these devices under a single automation system using low-level control over Zigbee, Matter, WiFi, or Bluetooth. So WHY does Govee not just expose the low-level control settings that are wirelessly available (through the app) to direct local access? This must be hurting them more than benefiting them, right?

It really sucks because I haven't found a nice alternative to the Govee uplighter. It looks great, but knowing that I can't integrate it properly into my home just means that it is not suitable for me :(

I’m between the Uplighter, Lantern, or the Floor Lamp 3 and I’m super indecisive over this. would like to see what this sub prefers! Thanks!

We had the original Govee outdoor permanent lights in December 2023 and they have failed pretty spectacularly. One specific light is discolored, and two strands are strobing no matter the color or scene we choose. We did some troubleshooting with CS a few weeks ago and they worked again until last night. So now have to send in a video this evening to support because they are supposedly covered by warranty until this December. The failing sections are on our second story eaves and we paid a significant amount to have them installed, and will have to do so again. Are many others finding their lights failing sooner than advertised? Trying to figure out if it’s even worth replacing them

I was thinking of getting one but I don't want gen AI anywhere near me. I'm pretty new to Govee so I'm not sure which products use normal AI and which use gen. thanks!

Hi everyone,

I want to sync two separate Govee COB Pro Strips (placed on the left and right sides of my screen) to the screen content using the Govee Sync Box 2 via DreamView.

Before wiring everything up, I have two specific questions regarding the setup:

HDMI Signal Chain (Passthrough):

Does the signal chain Source (Panasonic 4K Player) \rightarrow Denon AVR \rightarrow Govee Sync Box 2 \rightarrow Hisense Laser TV / Projector work seamlessly without issues for 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, and HD audio formats? Or is it better to place the Sync Box before the AVR?

DreamView Integration:

Can the Sync Box 2 easily be linked with two separate COB light strips in the Govee app so that they act precisely as left and right channels without noticeable latency?

Are there any pitfalls regarding this HDMI order or DreamView device assignment? Thanks for your help!

The app forced me to update it in order to control my lights. The update deleted all of my light names and locations, and the UI is so bad and clustered I can barely look at it. Am I being dramatic or is this layout just awful now?
I've got like 20 bulbs throughout my house that were organized by room and light fixture. It's all gone.

This could work with any Govee Device WITHOUT running any extra device for Home Automation.

I finally got my Govee T2 TV Backlight (H605C) working the way I wanted with my SofaBaton remote, so I figured I'd post the complete setup in case anyone else wants to do something similar.

Before you read any further: YOU NEED TO REQUEST YOUR OWN API KEY!
It wouldn't work without it. You can do this in Govee app.

The goal was:

When shutting down the home theater:

TV/AVR/etc. shut down → Govee leaves Movie mode → changes to a solid warm orange at 100% brightness so we can see while leaving the room → stays on for a selected time → turns off.

When starting the theater again:

Govee turns on → automatically goes back into my Movie DreamView.

MPORTANT LIMITATION — VIDEO MODE / “START TO EXPERIENCE”

One limitation I could not find a way around through the Govee API is directly controlling the normal Video mode.

So unfortunately, SofaBaton cannot simply reproduce every setting from the normal Govee Video/Experience screen. (White balance, individual LED segment brightness, etc.

The workaround: Movie DreamView

The solution I found was to create a Movie DreamView in the Govee app and have SofaBaton activate that DreamView through the API.

DreamView gives you fewer adjustments than the normal Video Experience. In my case, I can configure:

• Brightness
• Saturation
• Movie or Game
• Part or All

For a TV backlight, make sure you select PART, not ALL.

PART allows the different sections of the LED strip to display different colors based on the corresponding areas of the TV picture. This is what you want for proper screen-matching ambient lighting.

ALL treats the backlight more like one unified light, so the entire LED strip displays the same overall color instead of different areas of the strip matching different areas of the screen.

Once the Movie DreamView is configured the way you want in the Govee app, SofaBaton can activate it automatically during the home-theater startup sequence.

Also IMPORTANT: DO NOT IN ANY CASE EVER SHARE YOUR API KEY!!!!

End of disclaimer....

1. Get your Govee API key

First you need to request your own Govee API key through the Govee app/developer API.

You'll also need:

• Your Govee model/SKU, in my case H605C
• Your individual Govee device ID

Obviously, do not copy somebody else's API key or device ID. The command structure is the same, but those values need to be your own.

In SofaBaton I added the commands using IP Control / API commands.

For the headers I use:

Govee-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY

Content type:

application/json

SOLID COLOR COMMAND

For normal color control, Govee uses its older API.

Method

PUT

URL

https://developer-api.govee.com/v1/devices/control

Body

You can select any color you want; just change the RGB values.

{"model":"H605C","cmd":{"name":"color","value":{"r":255,"g":90,"b":0}},"device":"YOUR_DEVICE_ID"}

Brightness IP commands already exist by default, so for shutdown sequency, first I add a 100% brightness command (pay attention to device if you have multiple ones!)
THEN add the color command.
THEN add Off. command and set delay.

So my shutdown sequence sends:

Brightness 100% → Warm Orange → Off.

GETTING BACK INTO MOVIE MODE

This was the difficult part.

You need to create a Movie DreamView

In the Govee app I created a Movie DreamView and configured it exactly the way I want for movie watching.

https://preview.redd.it/eln2iz9uprjh1.png?width=452&format=png&auto=webp&s=0d04704a402354db08664a3a37813ced5d4fa21c

Go to Feature hub then Group and DreamView and create a new one and name it "movie".
Then set it up how you want it to. These are my settings for T2 backlight:

https://preview.redd.it/0n2bvga4qrjh1.png?width=451&format=png&auto=webp&s=f9398aa8c5bca055e781e001ea48ec26eb97b602

MOVIE DREAMVIEW ON COMMAND

This is where an important difference comes in.

DreamView uses Govee's new API endpoint, NOT the older one used for color and brightness.

Method

POST

Do not use PUT.

URL

https://openapi.api.govee.com/router/api/v1/device/control

Header

Govee-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY

Content type

application/json

Body

{"requestId":"sofabaton-movie-1","payload":{"sku":"H605C","device":"YOUR_DEVICE_ID","capability":{"type":"devices.capabilities.toggle","instance":"dreamViewToggle","value":1}}}

value:1 turns Movie DreamView ON.

The important part is that this MUST use:

POST
https://openapi.api.govee.com/router/api/v1/device/control

MOVIE DREAMVIEW OFF

If you want a separate DreamView OFF command, use the same command and change:

"value":1

to:

"value":0

So:

{"requestId":"sofabaton-movie-off","payload":{"sku":"H605C","device":"YOUR_DEVICE_ID","capability":{"type":"devices.capabilities.toggle","instance":"dreamViewToggle","value":0}}}

Again:

POST
https://openapi.api.govee.com/router/api/v1/device/control

MY SOFABATON STARTUP SEQUENCE

For starting the theater I can now basically do:

TV/AVR/etc. ON

↓

Govee ON

↓

Movie DreamView ON

And the T2 goes back into my Movie DreamView instead of remaining in the solid orange lighting mode.

The nice thing about using DreamView is that I don't have to try to send separate commands for saturation, Vivid, Movie, white balance, etc. The DreamView already contains the configuration I want.

MY SOFABATON SHUTDOWN SEQUENCE

My shutdown is essentially

Brightness 100%

↓

Solid warm orange

↓

Govee OFF + Delay approximately 2 minutes

This means the home theater equipment can shut down while the Govee backlight stays on as a warm orange room light for a couple of minutes so nobody is walking around in complete darkness.

Then it turns itself off.

ONE SOFABATON DELAY QUIRK I FOUND

I initially set a delay to MAX which is 127.5 seconds, but SofaBaton strangely executed the final Govee OFF command after only about 2 seconds.

I removed the OFF command completely and confirmed the orange light stayed on, so Govee itself was not shutting down.

I then tested a 10-second SofaBaton delay, and that worked perfectly.

Then tested longer delays but did not track perfectly. 111s delay turned off the color after 45 seconds. I have relayed the issue to Sofabaton, and they will look into it. I also requested to have 3-4-5 minute delays after 120seconds.
This might also be beneficial for people with serious home theater processors that take minutes to boot up

UPDATE: The best solution I found was to use repeated Color ON commands with 30-second delays instead of trying to use one long 120-second delay, which doesn't seem to work correctly with SofaBaton. So instead of: Color ON → 120-second delay → OFF I repeat the same Color ON command every 30 seconds. This keeps the light on for the amount of time I want while getting around the problem with longer delays. I also made an important change at the end of the shutdown sequence. Before actually turning the backlight off, I lower the brightness and put it back into Movie DreamView. The reason is that without doing this, the next startup begins with the Govee displaying the last solid color from the shutdown sequence at 100% brightness before Movie DreamView kicks in. By restoring the brightness and Movie DreamView before turning the backlight off, the Govee is already in the correct state for the next startup. My shutdown sequence is now: Brightness 100% → 0s delay → Color ON → 30s delay → Color ON → 30s delay → Color ON → 30s delay → Color ON → Brightness 50% → 2s delay → Movie DreamView → 2s delay → OFF This gives me the temporary solid-color room lighting during shutdown, but before the Govee actually powers off, it is returned to Movie DreamView at a more reasonable brightness. The next time the system starts, it comes on in the correct mode instead of briefly blasting the previous solid color at 100% brightness.