App keeps logging one of us out, geofencing not working

[jcrain]

My wife and I both have iPhones with the Arlo app. Both if these are listed as devices which are geofenced.

We regularly find that one of our devices has been logged out of Arlo, and therefore won't trigger the geofencing (either Home or Away), leaving our system exposed.

We will both leave home, only to find that Arlo thinks one of us is still there, and won't arm the system. Similarly, we'll arrive home, and the system won't disarm, until we both log in, change mode to arm or disarm, and then back to geofencing.

The trouble is, neither of us know when this happens. The Arlo app doesn't tell us that we've been logged out until we go into it, which defeats the purpose of geofencing. We also don't understand why either of us would be logged out when we haven't touched the app.

This is very confusing and frustrating, any tips would be gratefully received.

Jamie

[ShayneS]

Hello,

This issue has been identified and a fix to resolve this issue will be coming soon. I will provide another update as soon as possible.

[ShayneS]

The Arlo development team is currently investigating this issue. We will provide an update as soon as we have more information to share with the community.

[jguerdat]

Are you both using the primary account's login or is one of you using an account that was granted access? If the former, the primary user should use Settings, Grant Access to the other's email address.

[ShayneS]

To add to what jguerdat mentioned, if you log in to the web portal you will be signed out of the Arlo mobile app and vice versa.

[jcrain]

No, I am the primary, with my wife having a separate access that has been granted.

[jcrain]

"To add to what jguerdat mentioned, if you log in to the web portal you will be signed out of the Arlo mobile app and vice versa."

That is not the issue. I have logged in to the web portal perhaps once a year.

[ShayneS]

Which version of iOS are your phones running and which version of the Arlo mobile app are you using?

Thanks

[jcrain]

iOS 14.6

Arlo 3.2

[jcrain]

Still an issue.

Can't seem to resolve it.

[StephenB]

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@jcrain wrote:

Still an issue.

Can't seem to resolve it.

---

Is it possible the phone is sometimes shifting into low power mode? 

Also make sure background app refresh is enabled for the Arlo app.

[Arques]

Both me and my SO are experiencing the same issue. Me on Android and her on iOS. It seems like we cannot stay logged on for more than about a week. Once we have been signed out we get no notification or indication that this has happened. This makes the whole camera pretty much pointless since we never know when it stops working unless we manually sign in to the app every time we leave the house to make sure that we are signed in. Otherwise we won't get any notifications if the camera sees anything and the camera won't even arm either since the geofencing function stops working.

The app must be able to ensure that we are constantly signed in even if we don't open it. If any manual action is required it needs to show a notification that it needs my fingerprint to sign in again for example. This needs to work even if the app hasen't been opened for weeks or if the phone is turned off for a while or rebooted etc. It is very crucial functionality. Otherwise all your cameras are pretty much pointless, the app should not require constant babysitting for the alerting and geofencing functionality to work. Also, if any of the phones that are part of the geofencing function looses contact with the cloud its position should change to "outside of fencing area" instead of remaining where it was last time so that it doesn't prevent the cameras from arming.

This has been an issue for a looong time and I will be removing my subscription unless it can be fixed soon. There's no point to pay for something that doesn't work. I was planning to buy many more cameras once my new property has been built but I will have to look at alternatives instead if this never gets fixed...

[ShayneS]

Hi @Arques

Which version of the Arlo mobile app & which version of iOS is installed on your devices?

Thanks

[Arques]

I have a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 with Android 11. Previously I had a Galaxy S9 also with Android 10 and the geofencing function was working equally bad on that. My SO has iOS 14.8.1 15.1 and is right now upgrading to 15.1. The geofencing function works pretty well when we have both recently opened the app but it seems like it stops working somewhere between 3-14 days of either of us not opening the app.

We both have the latest version of the Arlo app available on the apple store and google play store respectively.

Lately the Arlo subscription bills arriving in my mailbox work as a reminder for me to double-check if the geofencing armed/disarmed notifications are still appearing or not and if they have been gone for an unknown amount of time the fix is for both me and my SO to just open the app and sign in again which will make everything work for another 3-14 days (hard to tell how long exactly and still don't know if this time varies or is the exact same amount of time).

Something that would make debugging this a lot easier is if we could check if the phones are reported as inside zone, outside zone or unknown (disconnected from Arlo cloud?) from the web portal. Also as I wrote above a device that has disconnected should have an unknown position instead of being registered on its last known position. Devices with an unknown position should count as being outside the zone or even better it should be configurable what it should count as... even if it takes 1 whole day for a device to switch from it's last known position to an unknown position that would be a lot better than them being registered in their last known position forever. Then the cameras would at least arm during vacations if our devices have mysteriously disconnected from the Arlo cloud...

[jcrain]

This is still an issue for us.

As @Arques says, every few days, one of us is logged out and then the geofencing fails. We don't know when this happens or why. 

All our systems are up to date, background refresh enabled etc. etc. 

It just seems totally unreliable. It's no wonder that insurance companies here don't consider these types of camera systems the same as hardwired CCTV.

[Dannybear]

@Arques
“Something that would make debugging this a lot easier is if we could check if the phones are reported as inside zone, outside zone”

If you look in the mobile’s settings for arlo app at the bottom of the page you should see an option to receive notifications to your mobile and guest device for notifications when you leave and enter the wanted region.
While you’re there also toggle back and forth the location option to ‘always’ to force the mobile to configure. Do the same for the ‘background refresh’.
I have seen iOS especially requiring this post iOS and arlo app updates.

[roxandnate]

Unless we remember to regularly login to our Arlo app on a regular basis, it will log us out automatically, after a few days and without notification. When it does this,, all cameras on the system stop recording and detecting motion. Since we have no reason to go into the app regularly, we invariably have a dead system for variable lengths of time, completely negating the security benefits of the system. Additionally, you have to login with EVERY device that is geofenced, or they each get “forgotten”. This has me so frustrated and ready to just get rid of it and find another product that will stay on without a need to constantly remember to keep it running. I cannot understand why you cannot turn off this auto-logout “feature” (flaw).

[Dannybear]

I have generally found that geofencing causes the logout of the logged in devices using arlo’s iPhone app. The app usually runs in the background so you are not aware when it occurs. Reopening the app on the phone is the only way to identify that this is happening. Of course the geofencing status then gets updated. This has been an ongoing issue for years for me so I suggest you not use it and just manage the mode settings as required.

[jguerdat]

Being logged out of the app does not stop recordings. It just would stop getting notifications since the app has to be active in the background. The system continues to work regardless of being logged in.

[roxandnate]

Thank you - good to know this is a known issue and I’m not the only one. Unfortunately, having to turn the system on and off manually every time we leave or return home is a enormous hassle. I wish Arlo could address this.

[roxandnate]

This is not my experience. Invariably, when we find we’ve been logged out, not only are there no notifications but neither are there any recordings during the preceding days while we’ve been logged out, despite there being plenty of known activity that should have triggered recording.

[Isadore]

I have this issue also unfortunately and wish there was a solution that I could find. In my opinion recommending that users disable geofencing and remember to manually enable or disable their cameras every time they leave home misses some of the points of having a geofencing mode - I don't want to infringe on privacy even accidentally and I do want to make sure that my home and pets are secure when I'm at home even if I leave in a rush for an emergency. If there was a notification at the very least, I could go and sign in. Instead there's nothing at all from the (seemingly arbitrary - since there's no notification it could be anything from 24 hours to a week that it takes to log out) app to let you know that you're about to be logged out and have a gap in security until you happen to think, "wait, why wasn't I notified of x?"

IF this is being touted as a security feature there should be an associated push notification to the end user.

[Dannybear]

If geofencing is not working for you don’t keep trying to use it.
You can wait for arlo to fix it which has been done multiple times over the years but it always fails to deliver a reliable sense of security for the end user.

[Arques]

Being logged out probably does not stop recordings if the cameras are armed but it certainly stops geofencing from arming the phones if any of the participating users are signed out. This is still an ongoing issue for us. I just noticed it broke down again. On my phone I know I saw the Arlo notificiations for 1-2 weeks but now after 4 weeks I noticed they are gone again which means our camera has been disarmed for 1-2 weeks without us noticing. Just opening the app and signing in on both devices again seems to fix the problem but it's not an acceptable solution. This is making geofencing completely unsafe and unusable.

[Arques]

Today when I signed in again, I had to sign in twice. First time I got an error message: "Your session has expired. Please sign in to continue". It kicked me back out to the login screen which forced me to sign in again.

The big question is who came up with the stupid idea that sessions should expire in the first place? (If active sessions are a requirement for the geofencing function)

Why are there no notifications from the app that the session has expired?

If you think session expiration is a crucial feature session refreshing needs to be super smooth, why can't the app when still running in the background automatically refresh them?

[jcrain]

"If geofencing is not working for you don’t keep trying to use it."

Geofencing is a critical feature of the system and a major selling point. If we can't use it, we have to either leave the system on at all times (battery drain, alert fatigue) or, switch the system on/off (risk forgetting to do so).

Other apps use location services on our phones successfully for years without error or interruption. Why Arlo can't do this is beyond me. I have submitted logs to Arlo to help troubleshoot the issue but am yet to receive a reply.

[ShayneS]

Can you make sure the latest version of the Arlo mobile app 3.5.10 is installed on your devices & test this issue again. 

Thanks