There are multiple ways in which App-enabled smart light bulbs can receive commands from your phone. Depending on which technology is being used, different parties are involved in processing the data on the way.
WiFi connected lightbulbs
Smart light bulbs that directly connect to your existing WiFi network are the most popular option, because they do not require additional hardware. Altough your phone might be connected to the same local WiFi network as the light bulb, all communication between them usually passes an external server. This allows you to control your lamp from anywhere over the Internet, but also makes your usage behavior observable by the cloud provider.
VREEDA lamps are connected via WiFi and are controlled using our in-house developed cloud services hosted on Azure West Europe.
Matter
Matter is a relatively new standard allowing smart devices and your phone to directly communicate on your local WiFi network. This is more privacy preserving, as no external server is involved. However, an additional device called a Matter hub is required.
Zigbee
Zigbee is an established wireless communication protocol used for various smart home appliances. It is used by a WiFi connected Zigbee hub to communicate with the light bulbs. In which way your phone communicates to the Zigbee hub depends on the manufacturer.
Comparison of most popular smart light manufactures
The following list compares the most popular smart light manufactures found on Amazon and highlights which cloud technology is used as their backend. Around half of manufactures rely on Tuya’s cloud infrastructure instead of operating their own.