Arlo Baby - No icon to expand to full screen

[Nick_B]

Before the current update I could watch my baby in fullscreen. Now the double arrow to see to full screen is gone. I can only rotate to full screen when viewing previous videos in the library, not live video.

How can I fix this? There's no point in me having a baby monitor if i can't see my baby on it.

[Papadopolis]

When I click the double arrows to expand live view to full screen, it simply switches the video to landscape over a black background, but size remains the same. It does not go to full screen. I can sometimes make it work by logging completely out and then back in. Seems to be an issue if I just close the app without logging out, and then reopen with fingerprint.

[Nolas_Mom]

I'm having the same issue - and have been for months now.  I don't have the option to make the image full screen (the two arrows in the top right corner are missing), and I close and open the app like 15 times before it'll randomly appear.  And lately once I do have the arrows to use full screen it just turns the image to landscape and there's a black background.  It doesn't enlarge the picture at all, just turns it sideways.  I've deleted and reinstalled the app several times.  I also have not been able to access my library in months.  I see all of the other people here that have had the same issues - was there a fix for this problem?  I have a Pixel 3 XL, with Android version 10, last updated June 5, 2020.

[rsena]

There has been no update/fix for this issue. Some people on some devices seem to have found workarounds to get the full screen arrows to appear. But your milage may vary depending on your device, magnetic pull of the earth's rotation, and/or the mood of the goblins and fairies inside the software.

[Nick_B]

Hey everyone, don't forget that the Google Play store (and I assume the Apple App store) let you post reviews of apps. I've posted a review with an appropriate star rating (1 star as I cannot see my baby) and an explanation as to why in order to warn other people who are considering buying the product. I have also mentioned in my review that the developers are responsive and seem to be working towers a fix.

If you do this, please do not forget to update your review when/if the issue is resolved.

[Lilgup]

I keep losing the icon that allows me to expand live video to full screen. Sometimes I can get it back by restarting my computer, or uninstalling and reinstalling the app. Other times it may be 24 hours or more before it comes back.

[Godman]

Happens to me all the time as well. Then when you can expand to fullscreen, it only does a small window on my phone. I have to turn my phone upside down for it to fix the issue.

[concernedArlo07]

Same issue for me. Android app has been buggy for months with full screen and environmental buttons. Not what I paid for, can't use as advertised.

* What Android device do you have?
Pixel 3a
* What Android OS version are you running on?
Android 10
* What is your phone carrier? Is this happening on both WiFi and/or cellular data?
Verizon
* Could you provide a screenshot where you're not seeing the double arrow icon to go full screen?
This is a privacy concern to post my camera views in a public forum. Get a better bug reporting system.

[rsena]

So I still have intermittent issues getting the full screen arrows to be shown and have full screen on my Pixel 4. However, when it does get into full screen, it had black bands on the top and bottom of the screen and does not fill the whole screen. What ever 'fix' was trying to be made caused a different issue. And lately,as another issue, the stream over night has been super delayed when we get up and even stops streaming causing our device to go to sleep. It's been well over a year since we purchased this so no way of any sort of refund. But the issues as of late are really getting out of hand.

[concernedArlo07]

I can reproduce this. Buggy full screen behavior or no full screen option happens when I close the app without logging out. It works if I log completely out and re-enter my password. This is clearly a programming bug with re-initializing an object when the app reopens while still logged in.

[BriSil]

Nearly 5mo later and I still have this issue every day. It is ridiculous that I cannot accurately see my baby when I need to because of a software glitch that you have all been 'working on' since early March.  

This full screen issue is just the most frustrating one at the moment, but this is far from the only problem I am having with my Arlo Baby Cam and I'm wondering if I should just cut my losses, purchase something else, and return the one I purchased for my sisters baby shower. 

When will we have an actual fix for this?

[JessicaP]

We appreciate everyone's patience once again about this. Our development team is doing their best to resolve this issue. We'll be sure to update the community when we hear any new information or update.

[BriSil]

But that is not helpful. You've been saying that exact same thing since March.

Is there no actual timeline? I am no longer feeling patient about this. I would like to know if I should just purchase something else (because another 5mo of this will be incredibly frustrating and not an issue I want to pass on to someone else through a gift) or if there is a real solution in sight.

Is there a more concrete answer?

[Retired_Member]

I agree with the previous posters. This is totally unacceptable. The only camera that shouldn't have any issues with it, and its the main one that arlo is having serious problems with. My wife and I still cannot access the camera properly without running into issues on a daily basis where the screen wont maximize or it does and the image is small with black borders around all 4 sides. We have had constant problems with this camera since we purchased it almost 2 years ago! We're going to be in the market for another baby camera at the end of this year and if arlo hasn't fixed this damn thing by then we will seriously look at a competitors camera. The same canned response from arlo is a joke. This issues needs to be sent up the chain of command to the ceo and rectified by either stopping work on all other arlo products to fix this or hire some more software engineers that know what they are doing!!!

[concernedArlo07]

The Arlo app on Android was updated in March to fix highly publicised account takeover issues:
See "Arlo and Blink cameras are boosting security to beat hackers".

This update was hurried and badly tested. It breaks all meaningful usability for real users who keep the app logged in, but still passes the developer tests because the features work immediately after a fresh login.

[jonowebster]

I think I've figured this out. My galaxy s10e has always been a bit poor at shifting from landscape to portrait mode and vice versa.

After I lost full screen and only had a small portrait mode size video in landscape mode I disabled my phone's ability to auto switch orientation. Closed the app (force close), toggled orientation and then reopened the app. All back to normal.

To me it seems relay to screen orientation detection, probably a combination of Samsung/Android 10/Arlo Programming.

Hopefully this helps the developers code a fix, or us to end our frustration 🙂

[slall]

I'm seeing this is still an unresolved issue, and suffering the same problem - full screen arrows do not show up when I start the app. Restarting the app works sometimes, but not always. Often have to restart my phone or tablet and get it to work. It's a bit ridiculous that the development team hasn't addressed this issue that seems to have come up in March. Our baby is in another room, and we rely on the app to monitor her - we can't do that unless the video feed is full screen, since the phone times out. Tried it on the following devices:

1. Motorola X4 phone (Android)

2. Amazon Fire HD tablet (Android Amazon) 

Extremely frustrated with this expensive product

[JessicaP · Accepted solution]

We appreciate everyone's patience about this. This issue should now be resolved on the latest Arlo Android app version, which is version 2.19. You can read more about it here: Arlo Android App - 2.19 - 14th August 2020

If you're still experiencing this issue, please let us know.

[Papadopolis]

I figured out a way to fix. Simply rotate your phone so the image flips. It almost always goes to full screen. If not, flip again. Solved.

[Papadopolis]

I figured out a way to fix. Simply rotate your phone so the image flips. It almost always goes to full screen. If not, flip again. Solved.

[concernedArlo07]

The Arlo app update for Android, version 2.19_28100, has fixed the issue for me so far. I'll let you know if it happens again. Thanks to the Arlo team!

[Mottiman]

That took 6 months. How's night mode for android going? Should we be expecting that this century?