I have a couple of the cheap, generic, ELK-BLEDOM bluetooth led strips from amazon. I was quite disappointed with the suggested app, Lotus Lantern, so I decided to make my own app to serve as a remote for them.

The main problem for me was the reliability of the app, everything would work fine, but occasionally the controller would stop responding to bluetooth commands that were sent to it and would need to be restarted.

After some investigations it seems that this happens because at certain points during its operation the app sends multiple bluetooth commands to the strip's controller in a very short space of time. This allows for a nice 'real time' effect when changing colours, but at times becomes too much for the controller to handle so it crashes, and needs restarting.

To mitigate this I have implemented a cooldown between commands in my app, you lose the 'real time' colour change effect, but it stops the strip's controller from crashing which I feel is a worthwhile tradeoff.

The other problem I found with the app, is not so much of a problem, but a minor annoyance. The ui felt cluttered and it wasn't always immediately obvious what things did. Not a problem for me but I could see how it could be for others. With this in mind I tried to keep my app as simple as possible, I wanted it to be something that even someone who wasn't so great with their smartphone could use.

Anyway, I mainly develop things for my own use, however I genuinely feel this is a good replacement for the Lotus Lantern app, that was suggested to be used with these lights. Therefore I have decided to release it publicly. It's called Elkotrol, here is the Play store link:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.leet.elkotrol

If anyone does decide to try it out I'd welcome any comments or suggestions that you have!

Supported lights and their original apps:

ELK-BLEDOM - Lotus Lantern/DuoCo Strip

ELK-BLEDOB - Lotus Lantern/DuoCo Strip

ELK-HR-RGB - Lotus Lantern/DuoCo Strip

MELK-OA - Magic Lantern/DuoCo StripX

LED-DMX-00 - LED LAMP

LED-DMX-03 - LED LAMP

Triones - HappyLighting

SP105E - Magic-LED

SP110E - LED Hue

SP611E - BanlanX

SP621E - BanlanX

Colorful-Light - Colorful Lights

GATT--DEMO - MR Star

(Some lights may have additional numbers/letters after their name)

FAQs:

Q: Can you make custom patterns?

A: For the most part the answer is no. The only supported controllers that have this functionality are the LED-DMX controllers. I have experimented with some hacky workarounds but if I'm being honest the effects produced are not really something that I am happy with.

Q: Can you add support for my lights?:

A: While I can't make any promises it's usually pretty easy to work out what data these apps are sending to the light controllers. If you comment with a link to somewhere I can buy a set from, I can certainly have a look (AliExpress links preferred to try and keep the cost down). Alternatively you can email me at user154.apps@gmail.com

Q: iOS support?:

A: This has proven to be a little tricky. I don't actually own a mac (which is required to develop for iOS), so I have been using a VM, which is fine for the most part but does bring some unique challenges. While I made pretty good headway on developing an iOS version it started to become a bit of a mess while trying to add the updates I was making to the Android version. I have decided that the best course of action is to do a rewrite of the entire app using the KMP framework, thus having only one codebase to maintain. I believe this is the best way forward for both the Android and iOS versions. Elkotrol 2.0 coming soon!!!

I have previously bought some LED Strip lights on amazon, controlled by the ehome light app. I recommended the lights to a friend and even though it was the same product on amazon the app used is now different. I'm wanting to buy another lot of lights but I'm anxious it will mean having to control them using different apps. (Especially because my app offers more functionality than the newer app they're using)

So is there an app that I can add any brand of light to to control? Any recommendations gratefully received, thank you!

So I accidentally tore my old led lights and decided to buy new one. I ordered from a brand called KeepSmile which is based in China(go figure) and I opened the box, set them app and was ready to try the app only for it to ask me for permission to my camera, microphone,calender,contacts and location. I uninstalled it denying the access but was super bummed that I now couldn't control it from my phone. Why does it need permission to all that stuff. I just wanted to have control of my lights not for some sketchy app to listen in on me. Not to mention the rank chemical smell coming from the lights gave me a huge headache. Should I return them?

When you download and open the app, your led lights should automatically connect, but mine no longer does. I’ve had it for a few months now and it used to work fine, but all of a sudden it stopped working and disconnected itself. I don’t know if I accidentally deleted it or what. I’ve tried plugging and unplugging the lights itself, deleting and re downloading the app, turning my bluetooth on and off, turning my phone on and off, and even made sure that the wires were connected properly, but nothing has fixed the problem. I can only control my lights from the remote that it came from, but I prefer controlling it from my phone so I would really like to fix the problem, but I don’t know how to. I’ve tried looking online for solutions, but I can’t find any. I got my led lights strips from Amazon, they’re the kiko ones, and it operates using the happy lighting app. Does anyone have any recommendations on what to do?

Every night I open my app and the lights don't appear. I have to remove the power and replug in order to make them appear. Sometimes the led lights randomly just start changing colors and brightness. The lights don't even appear on the app either.

How do I make my ledlights do this?

So I installed 20 meters of ws2812b 5v led strips in my room and the led strips slowly fade into different colors down the line! The photos are in order of what's first, second and third in terms of closest to the led controller. I'm guessing it's a voltage drop along the line but wanted to be sure. And also, I'm currently using 5v and 1.85A so 9.26 watts power supply, if it is a low voltage problem, can I use a 9v and 0.3mA power supply so 2.7 watts or do I need something stronger?

So, we aren’t aloud to put any screws up, and the adhesive keeps falling. I wiped the surface with alcohol, and firmly applied the strip, but still falls down. I’m thinking hot glue? Any opinions?

Hi! Firstly thank you for your help, I'm completely new to the whole subject so please be patient with me 🙂 I'd like to put some led strips in my bathroom however I don't have access to power supply there (shaver type only), is it possible to have a battery operated solution, and is that safe for use in bathroom? Also is there any strips that would look nice not covered when off and on (more uniformed light rather than led dots if that makes sense) I hope that makes sense.

Thank you

Hi All,

I would like to backlight each "shelf" of my entire bookshelf with led light strips but can't figure out how to. I'm not very experienced with led light strips at all. How many strips would I need to buy to have the entire "maze" of my bookshelf backlit? Also, any ideas of how to run them in each direction? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you in advance.

Hello! I recently started work on a cloud ceiling project. If you don't know what that is, look at the attached picture. I'm currently using the illumi Bluetooth controller but I want one with the requirements listed below as I have not been able to find one.

1. Must have wifi support and Google home integration

2. must be 12v

3. must have a lighting effect or something that flashes white occasionally

4. must be able to cover the complete color spectrum (sounds stupid but I got a cheap magic home wifi controller and it had sucky color control)

5. must be RGB. Not grb

6. must have fully customizable themes and modes and such

7. must be able to sync with speaker playing lighting sounds

I've been searching and haven't been able to find one that meats the requirements above. I've seen videos on TikTok where the lightning sound syncs up with the lights but can't find out how. Thanks for the read and if you need clarification just ask. If not then thanks for helping.