Arlo Android & IOS App drains phone battery when in geofencing mode

[Retired_Member]

I was so happy when Netgear finally solved the issue with the persistant notification "Geofencing is enabled". Now, we can just block this message from appearing without impacting other notifications from Arlo that we still need. Nevertheless, since then I noticed that the Arlo App is heavily draining my phones battery as long as geofencing is enabled.

Even if the app is running in the background and is not actively being used (means not checking notifications or watch recordings) it drains up to 20% of my phones battery in just 4 hours. This cannot be normal. After switching to schedule mode, the battery drain stops. It is clearly related to geofencing mode.

Phones tested: OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 6 (same issue)

Android Version: 9

[mainstreamliam]

I agree with that. New app hasn't helped. I'm using an s9 and have cleared all data from the app and tried rebooting the base station. Unfortunately the app is still heavily draining the battery.
Thanks

[ShayneS]

Hi @mainstreamliam

Have you tried contacting customer support regarding this issue? I have attached the link here for you - Arlo Tech Support

[BryanJDx]

I've experienced this issue as well, screenshot attached of running geofencing all morning today and the resulting battery usage.

Note this is something that changed in a recent build as I had run geofencing for the last month or so prior without this issue.

[SlimViking]

Same problem for me geofencing drains battery on my Galaxy S9 phone fast, and the program is marked active all time and top the list in battery usage info.
Problem disappeared when geofocing is turn off.
My S9 use Android version 9.

[just1man]

Same issue here.
Moto Z Force.
Battery drain severe with geofencing. Have mostly used geofencing since camera purchase last summer. Battery drain was ok until last few weeks or so.

[ShayneS]

@just1man, @SlimViking, @BryanJDx

Are you using the latest version of the Arlo Mobile App 2.7.8? if not, can you try downloading this and test again.

[just1man]

Yes, latest version from 4/16/19
(screenshot attached)

[ShayneS]

@just1man

Have you tried contacting customer support regarding this issue? I have attached the link here for you - Arlo Tech Support

[SlimViking]

Yes use newest version 2.7.8 you can see multiply people have same issue with newest Android 9 version (battery drain) so its look like it's something with Android 9.
The app is always active don't go in background mode and apparently use gps nonstop.

[ShayneS]

@SlimViking

Have you tried contacting customer support regarding this issue? I have attached the link here for you - Arlo Tech Support

[Retired_Member]

I'm also got this problem, suddenly the app has started to drain the phone battery. Tried reinstalling the app, clear data/cache, restart base/cameras. Disabling the geofencing stops the battery drain. Please fix!

[cyberr8der]

Same problem here with Android 9. Took forever to fix a simple notification so this will probably be a problem for a while. They need better devs and better QA. Regretting getting this system.

[Retired_Member]

Any progress on this issue ? still having the issue after last 2 updates of the app.

[cyberr8der]

No, there's no updates. They haven't even acknowledged the problem. This will probably take a while like the rest of the problems have. Once they do fix it it'll probably break something else. I've lost confidence in this apps development. It's poor at best.

[Retired_Member]

Don't get you hopes up. I have been using my Arlo Pro 2 for a long time. The combination of schedule and geofencing has never worked properly. The update that finally fixed geofencing itself on Android 9 brought us an persistant notification that was just so annoying that I stopped using geofencing. The update that allowed us to configure this notifaction like we want to brought us the battery drain.

Who knows what comes next?

My support ticked has not received an update in 11 day. Not even a "we are looking into it".

[Retired_Member]

The service actually worked with a little help from about mid October until March, last updates has totally ruined the functionality...

Asking support is kind of useless they don't care about the app, they refer to using a third party solution with ifttt and family360 or similar. Though with a big disadvantage, if the app has crashed (normally does) notifications are not working.

Today the app drained about 20% of the phone battery in about 8 hours idle. The app is never running in background, always in active mode strangely...

@ShayneS: Any status if anyone is investigating this?

[ShayneS]

Hi @Retired_Member

I would like to investigate your case & look in to this for you. Can you please provide me with the best number to contact you via PM. Thank you for your patience.

[Tlagalt]

Exact same issue here, on Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Arlo shows hours of active use on my phone draining the battery. I have geofencing enabled. Any hope for a fix?

[Retired_Member]

There is no need to discuss this over the phone. Of course, location services use energy but it is certainly not normal that it uses 20% of my phones battery in 4 hours or 40% in 8 hours. This behavior started a couple of updates ago, it wasn't like this before. Other customers complain about the same thing in the forums thread.

Other apps that use geofencing like Philips Hue or Nuki do not even use 1% of my phones battery in a day. This can only be fixed by an app update. Maybe you could ask the other companies how they do it.

[JessicaP]

Hi @Tlagalt,

Try to reinstall the app and restart your phone to see if that resolves the issue for you.

[cyberr8der]

I downgraded the app to 2.7.2.25500 and no longer have the battery drain.  When I upgrade to current there's serious battery drain.  Obviously this is an app problem.  I'm not sure what the QA is like or if there even is any at Arlo being the constant problems.  I expected more for sure.  

Folks, don't just leave this here for them to quarantine the negative.  Get out on Social Media and make your thoughts known so others don't waste their money as well.

[mainstreamliam]

How do you downgrade the update? Keen to have things working again!

[Tlagalt]

I tried uninstalling, reinstalling, rebooting. At first I did not enable geofencing and Arlo didn't show as active and running using battery even though I used the app a bit. A few hours later I enabled geofencing and since then Arlo has been consuming a higher and higher percentage of my device's battery and showing as active for hours even while the app hasn't been opened. It appears Arlo can't manage geofencing without consuming a significant amount of device battery.

[Tlagalt]

Other screenshot of battery usage.

[Nathanial]

That is my observation as well. It's tied to Geofencing. While waiting for a fix it's manually arming and disarming.