I hear Opple Home is more frequently updated. So, I installed “Opple Home” app from the Play Store to test it out. You can view Light Master readings in the “Me” menu located on the far right bottom menu. And here is how it compares with “Opple Smart Lighting” app.
One thing to note is that, contrary to the news suggesting that Opple Home is updated more frequently, as of now, Opple Smart Lighting appears to receive more frequent updates on the Play Store. Opple Home was last updated on Oct 12, 2023, while Opple Smart Lighting received its last update on Dec 5, 2023, according to the Play Store.
Nevertheless, I find Opple Home to be superior because it can display negative R numbers and doesn’t seem to report false R9 numbers. I believe Opple Home is better calibrated than Opple Smart Lighting.
Seen on the left is the new app (Opple Home) and on the right is the old app (Opple Smart Lighting).
The lighting source I used for this comparison is a COB LED I received from Wurkkos as a complimentary gift. It is a low-CRI LED with a high CCT of 6500K. These types of LEDs caused problems in LM4 within the Opple Smart Lighting app, where it falsely displayed a very high R9, as indicated in the blue circle. In Opple Home, it correctly (I believe) displays a negative R9 number and displays it on the chart. See the red circled area.
I have also noticed R9 from CSP2323 6000K (Wurkkos TS10) has dropped from 83 to 59, which I think feels right. The R9 numbers for B35AM did not change much. They were around 90 in both apps.
There is one minor downside, however. Opple Home does not report Ra and R9 numbers for some lighting sources, such as fluorescent lamps. Additionally, it did not perform well under natural sunlight (R9 around 70). I suspect that the app development team calibrated the LM4 exclusively for LEDs and refuses to report if the spectrum deviates far from that of LEDs.