Nanoleaf is known for many things, but some of the most exciting are our products’ amazing features. You likely already know about Nanoleaf’s RGB lighting—with over 16 million colours— and our modularity and customizable designs—with panels and light bars that you can arrange into your own custom layouts.

But what about the lesser-known (but arguably more enticing) features like Screen Mirroring, the Rhythm music visualizer, touch-reactivity, and the newly debuted Magic Scenes? In this post we’re going to go through those 4 popular Nanoleaf features that you might not have known even existed, tell you all about them, and even show you the features in action!

And because we know that once you’ve learned about them you’ll be itching to try them out for yourself, make sure you join us on our social channels (Instagram is a good start) for giveaways, live streams and to be part of the fun.

There’s an expression that says “always save the best for last”, but when every feature is “save for last”  material, one of them logistically just has to take the lead. So we’re going to start with a Nanoleaf team favourite.

1. Screen Mirror: For Immersive Movies and Gaming

Screen Mirror really is a feature that you have to see to believe. Therefore, we’re going to break the flow of this post before it has even been established, and put the example right here at the beginning.

FEATURED PRODUCT: Nanoleaf Shapes Triangles

See what we mean? The Screen Mirror feature extends the colours from your screen onto your lights for a  jaw-dropping visual effect.

Imagine a gaming session where every explosion quite literally explodes off the screen. Or a movie night where you’re pulled into the action of every scene as your room is immersed in colour and light, for a theatrical experience right in your own home. Sounds cool? Well stop imagining, and start Screen Mirroring!

Who it’s for:
– Gamers
– Movie Lovers
– Binge-Watchers

How it works:
Screen Mirror uses the Nanoleaf Desktop App to map the colours from your screen onto your Nanoleaf RGB lights. There are 4 mirror modes to choose from, each with a different visual style to suit a different type of content. Whether it’s Flow or Tranquility with their serene colour melts, Chameleon that creates splashes of colour from the palette on your screen, or 4D which is a 1-to-1 match of what you’re watching, each mode creates a truly next level experience of its own. 

Where to find it:
Nanoleaf Desktop App -> “Entertainment” Tab

2. Rhythm Music Visualizer: For Next-Level Listening

In the same way that Screen Mirror brings your screen to life, Rhythm does so for your favourite songs and soundtracks!

Your lights will be the life of the party as they flow, pulse, and pop along to your music for a real-time audio-visual light show! Think music festival vibes, but right at home.

FEATURED PRODUCT: Nanoleaf Shapes Hexagons

Who it’s for:
– House Party Hosts
– DJs
– DJs-In-Training
– Those For Whom Music = Life

How it works:
The built-in sound sensor in all Nanoleaf panel products as well as Lines allows your lights to react to the beat of any music or ambient sounds played out loud. There are 8 distinct Rhythm motions that you can choose from that all react to different types of sounds in different ways. Some motions react to amplitude/volume/loudness changes within the beat, while others respond in unique ways to different components of sound, such as high or low frequencies.

Where to find it:

Nanoleaf App -> “Create Scene” Button -> “Motion” -> “Rhythm” OR

Nanoleaf App -> Discover -> Any Scene with a Music Icon!

3. Touch Reactivity: For Life Made Easy

“Touch” isn’t exactly the first word you might think of when you think of “lights”. But that’s about to change! All of Nanoleaf’s panels (aside from the original first generation Light Panels) are touch-reactive. This allows them to do some pretty cool things. Not only can you tap or swipe your panels to see dynamic lighting reactions, but you can even use those taps and swipes to play games, control your lights, or even control your other smart home products.

FEATURED PRODUCT: Nanoleaf Shapes Triangles

How it works:
“Touch Games” can be found in the Nanoleaf App’s “Discover” Tab, and include games like Whack A Mole, Simon, and Memory. You know the rules to these classic games, but by lighting them up across an oversized touch-reactive play-field the fun level also grows to become larger-than-life. TIP: Do you remember the 90’s childhood toy called Lite-Brite? Find the “Touch Paint” game in the app to relive the light-up nostalgia by painting each panel on your layout a different colour with just the touch of your hand, to create fun designs and patterns!

Who it’s for:
– Kids
– Families
– Parties
– Couples who need to decide whose turn it is to wash the dishes.

“Touch Gestures” allow you to control the settings of your lights through touch. For example, double tap your panels to turn them on/off, swipe up to increase the brightness, or swipe right or left to change Scenes. These interactions are customizable within the app, so you can set them to match your preferences and then—technically—you’d never need to open the app to control your lights again!

“Touch Actions” (for iOS only) take the intelligence of the smart touch feature one step further. This feature can be configured in the app to turn each panel into a touch-reactive smart button to control any or all of your Apple Home products and Scenes. Each panel has 3 touch states (press, double press, and long press) that can each be assigned a different Apple Home Scene or action, so the smart possibilities are nearly endless in terms of how you control your home with your touch panels.

Who they’re for:
– Everyone who wants to make their lives easier
– AKA. Everyone

Where to find it:
Touch Games:
Nanoleaf App -> “Discover” Tab-> “Motions” -> Any Scene with a Puzzle icon
Touch Actions & Touch Gestures:
Nanoleaf App -> Device Settings

4. Magic Scenes: For Your Daily Dose of Fun

To understand what Magic Scenes are, you’ll first need to understand what a Scene is in the first place. Scenes are dynamic animated colour palettes that flow across your Nanoleaf lights. Your Nanoleaf lights come with several Scenes built-in, you can of course create your own from scratch in the app, and there are also thousands of Scenes that the community has created available for you to steal…or we mean “share”, in the Discover tab. 

But if you have a theme in mind for a Scene you want to create—maybe inspired by a holiday, a sports team, or a new game or movie release—you can now generate it magically in an instant with the Magic Scenes feature! To create a Magic Scene, type in any “magic” word, and your Scene will automatically appear before your eyes! For example, type “Christmas” for pops of greens and reds, or try something like “Summer Vacation” for warm beachy vibes.

FEATURED PRODUCT: Nanoleaf Shapes Hexagons

How it works:
It’s just magic!

Who it’s for:
– Movie Lovers
– Game Lovers
– General-Cool-Stuff Lovers

Where to find it:
Nanoleaf App -> “Magic Scenes” Button

Now that you know about these 4 features, which will you try first?

Make sure to let us know which Nanoleaf feature is your favourite!

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