Our Light Show isn't hacking your phone. Here's what's actually happening.

If you've seen one of our recent stadium light shows online, you know why it stops people mid-scroll: thousands of phones lighting up in perfect sync, no wristbands, no app required. We're proud of it. That's our Light Show product, and CUE has been building this technology for over a decade for venues, teams, and tours around the world.

We've also noticed a few corners of the internet deciding the most logical explanation for "a crowd's phones all moved together" is, naturally, mass hacking. We appreciate the imagination. But let's actually walk through what's happening, in plain terms.

What that permission actually grants

There's no app to download and nothing to instal.* Fans scan a QR code, which opens a normal web page in their phone's browser. That page asks for one thing: permission to control the screen and flash, the same way any website might ask to use your camera or microphone. The fan sees a standard, phone-generated permission prompt, not something CUE designed or controls, and taps "Allow." That's it.

That permission only allows that browser tab to control the screen display and, where supported, the flashlight, for as long as that tab is open. It doesn't install software, doesn't run in the background, and doesn't give us access to your contacts, photos, messages, location, or anything else on your phone. Close the tab or leave the page, and the access is gone. There's nothing left behind.

The bottom line

A stadium full of synced phone lights looks like something out of a movie, and we understand the instinct to ask "wait, is that safe?" The honest answer is yes: it's a website asking for the same kind of permission thousands of sites ask for every day, granted explicitly by each fan, limited to that one browser tab, and gone the moment the page closes. The light show is real magic, just not the kind anyone needs to worry about.

For more on how we approach security, visit our security page or reach out to us at security@connectwithcue.com.

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*An app version is available should you need it to remedy Wifi or network concerns. See more Light Show details here.