Philips’ original Hue Bridge is a hub used to help Philips Hue bulbs work with smartphones and assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa.

However, starting next month, it is losing support for all internet-connected services, which will severely limit its functionality. 

Philips said its customers will notice on 30 April that, while they can still use the first version of the Hue Bridge hub, it'll only work when connected to the same local network as the Philips Hue Bridge v1 app. It also won't get any app software updates or security patches, effectively forcing customers to upgrade to a newer model of the Hue Bridge if they want to use internet-connected services, assistants, new features, etc.

The company first revealed it would cut support for the Hue Bridge last year. Now, it's issuing a date, with the confirmation it doesn't plan to support original devices for years. It began selling the Bridge about seven years ago, and it is the first major Hue device to lose connectivity, support, and patches. The second Hue Bridge is getting old, too, having debuted in 2015. It's still supported, however.

Philips is reassuring customers on Twitter that “there is no planned date when the Bridge v2 will no longer be supported". The company also confirmed to customers it is "not working on a new bridge at the moment either so will continue working with the V2".

If you can't tell which Hue Bridge you own, the original model is circular, while the second model is rectangular.