Nine times out of ten when a customer rings us a few weeks after handover, it’s not because something’s broken — it’s because they want the app to feel like their home. The Control4 app on your phone or tablet is genuinely brilliant, but straight out of the box it shows you everything, in the order the system decided. The good news is you can fix that in a couple of minutes, no electrician required. This is one of the easiest wins in the whole system, and we reckon everyone should set it up.
Below we’ll walk you through Favourites — what they are, how to add them, how to reorder them so the stuff you actually use is front and centre, the difference between a per-room and a whole-home Favourite, and how to flip the app into dark mode so it’s not blinding you at 11pm.
What Favourites actually are
Think of Favourites as shortcuts that live at the top of your Control4 app. Instead of tapping into a room, scrolling to a device, then finding the thing you want, a Favourite puts that action one tap away. Our customers most commonly favourite things like:
- A lighting scene — “Movie”, “Goodnight”, “Dinner”
- A specific shade or blind position
- The whole-home off button (this one’s a crowd favourite)
- A music station or a Triad audio zone
- A thermostat or comfort setting
- A camera feed at the front door
Favourites work on the iOS app, the Android app, and on your T3 and T4 touchscreens. This guide is written for OS 3.4 and newer, which is what we install on every job these days.
Adding a Favourite
The app makes this dead simple. You don’t need Composer or anything technical — it’s all done right in the app on your phone.
- Open the Control4 app and make sure you’re connected to your home (you’ll see your rooms listed).
- Navigate to the device, scene or setting you want to save — for example, tap into the Lounge and open your lighting.
- Look for the star icon next to the item. On most screens it sits in the top corner or beside the device tile.
- Tap the star so it fills in. That’s it — the item is now pinned to your Favourites.
- Head back to your Favourites screen (the star or heart along the bottom navigation, depending on your app version) to confirm it’s landed there.
Reordering so the good stuff is on top
Adding Favourites is half the job. The other half is putting them in the order that suits your day. There’s no point having “Goodnight” buried at the bottom if it’s the button you mash every single night.
- Go to your Favourites screen.
- Tap Edit (usually top right) — the tiles will start to wobble or show drag handles.
- Press and hold a Favourite, then drag it up or down to its new position.
- Repeat until the order makes sense for how you live — we usually put the daily-use items (front door camera, all-off, main living lights) right at the top.
- Tap Done to lock it in.
While you’re in Edit mode, this is also where you remove a Favourite you no longer want — just tap the minus or the filled star to clear it. Don’t worry, removing a Favourite never deletes the device or scene itself; it only takes the shortcut off the screen.
Per-room versus whole-home Favourites
This is the bit that trips a few people up, so here’s the plain-English version.
Whole-home Favourites
These live on the main Favourites tab and follow you around no matter which room you’re “in” on the app. They’re perfect for things that apply to the whole house — an All Off scene, the front door camera, your main music source, or an away/holiday setting. If you’d reach for it from anywhere in the house, make it a whole-home Favourite.
Per-room Favourites
When you’re inside a specific room in the app, you can pin Favourites that only show in that room. So the Master Bedroom might have its own “Reading” and “Wake up” scenes, while the Lounge has “Movie” and “Dinner”. This keeps each room tidy and stops you scrolling past 40 shortcuts to find the three you use in that space.
Our rule of thumb with customers: keep whole-home Favourites short and ruthless — five or six max — and let the per-room Favourites carry the room-specific stuff. A cluttered Favourites screen defeats the whole purpose.
Switching to dark mode
If you’re using the app at night — and most of us are, hitting Goodnight from bed — dark mode is a game changer. It swaps the bright white background for a deep dark theme that’s far easier on the eyes and won’t light up the whole bedroom.
- Open the Control4 app and go to Settings (the gear or menu icon).
- Find the Appearance or Theme option.
- Choose Dark, Light, or System.
We almost always recommend setting it to System. That way the Control4 app follows your phone’s own day/night setting — bright during the day, dark in the evening — without you ever touching it. If your phone is set to automatically switch themes at sunset, the app comes along for the ride.
A few things we’ve learned setting these up
- Each device is its own setup. Favourites are stored per app/per device login, so the layout you build on your phone won’t automatically appear on your partner’s phone or the kitchen touchscreen. Set up each one the way that person uses the home.
- Touchscreens count too. The same star system works on your T3 and T4 wall touchscreens, so you can build a tidy Favourites page right where the family gathers.
- Less is more. The temptation is to favourite everything. Resist it. The best Favourites screens we’ve seen have a handful of well-chosen shortcuts and nothing else.
- It’s all reversible. You can’t break anything by experimenting here. Add, remove, reorder — it only changes shortcuts, never the underlying programming.
If you want to go a step further and have us build custom scenes to favourite — like a single “Leaving Home” button that locks up, drops the shades and kills the lights — that’s exactly the kind of thing we love programming. Have a look at our lighting scenes guide for ideas, or get in touch and we’ll tailor it to your routine. For the official rundown on the app, Control4 also keep a handy support centre with the latest feature notes.
Give it a crack — five minutes of tidying your Favourites makes the whole system feel sharper every single day. And if you’d rather we set it up perfectly for the whole household, that’s no trouble at all; it’s the sort of finishing touch we genuinely enjoy. Sing out anytime.
— Adam and the team at DUKE Electrical Group
Frequently asked questions
Will my Favourites show up on my partner's phone too?
No. Favourites are stored per app and per device login, so the layout you build on your phone won’t automatically appear on someone else’s phone or on the kitchen touchscreen. You’ll need to set each device up the way that person uses the home — but it only takes a couple of minutes each.
Does removing a Favourite delete the scene or device?
Not at all. Removing a Favourite only takes the shortcut off your Favourites screen. The device, room and any scene we’ve programmed stays exactly as it was, so feel free to experiment without worrying about breaking anything.
Why can't I see a star to favourite a particular scene?
Most devices and scenes show a star you can tap, but some advanced custom shortcuts need to be set up as a Favourite in Composer at our end. If you’re on 4Sight or Control4 Connect, give us a call and we can add it remotely.
What's the difference between a per-room and whole-home Favourite?
Whole-home Favourites live on the main Favourites tab and follow you everywhere — ideal for All Off, the front door camera or main music. Per-room Favourites only appear when you’re inside that specific room, keeping room-specific scenes tidy and easy to find.
Does dark mode change how my lights or system work?
No. Dark mode is purely a visual setting for the app on your phone or tablet. It makes the screen easier on the eyes at night but doesn’t affect your lighting, scenes or any wiring whatsoever.