Well - they've done a pretty good job of ensuring that if I get smart lights again, I'm definitely not buying Philips.

This change breaks all the digital assistant integrations ("Hey Google, turn on the lights"), which is pretty much the only reason to have smart lights in the first place. If you can't use voice commands, you might as well just use the wall switches. Who wants to pull out their phone and switch the lights on and off with an app?