Help with geofencing, scheduling, and new app

[baumbachaflocka]

The old app worked great with geofencing, it would not arm unless every device left the area. Now it always arms if just 1 person leaves. My system is configuration is the following: anyone arrives> standby, everyone leaves> arm away

They are both set to always enabled and I have made sure that both my devices are setup correctly with always allowing precise location, notifications and do not have battery saver on. Its so frustrating because the old app worked great and the new one is so bad and we were forced to switch when we added the new cameras.

More info there is 1 iphone and 1 android phone used for geofencing, I have it set to the largest area and no other automations except for the geofencing ones.

[ShayneS]

Hi,

Can you try utilizing this setup for your schedules with the Arrive/Leave feature and let me know the results?

1. Select Routines > Automations > Select the (+) to create the desired schedules (When created, schedules will be listed under the Schedules section)

2. Create and enable the Arrive automation under > Select Automations > Select the (+) > Add Action > Change Mode > Select Standby > Next > Add an Action > Enable/Disable an Automation > Select the desired schedule > Next > Select Enable > Next
                             
3.  Create and enable the Leave automation under > Select Automations > Select the (+) > Add Action > Change Mode > Select Arm Away > Next > Add an Action > Enable/Disable an Automation > Select the desired schedule > Next > Select Disable > Next  > Save
                     

When completed you should see your options listed under the Arrive/Leave section under Automations

Thank you 

[ShayneS]

Please reach out to the Support Team to further investigate this issue you are experiencing. You can find several options for contacting support though the Arlo Mobile App by navigating to the Profile icon > Support Center > Select device > contact

[Johanwiltvank]

Same here. And in my experience, the camera's are constantly armed. Even when all persons are present.

[Voidspaces]

I am a software engineer and can’t work out how to setup geofencing on the new app - or be able to identify issues. Is there a guide somewhere? I just want my wife’s phone and mine location to change to “arm away” when everyone leaves, and “standby” when anyone is home. Simple, no? The fact that I have 3 devices listed that I can’t edit, and 2 of them with the same name “iPhone” (!), makes it impossible to understand if I guessed the wrong setup or if there is an issue with geofencing because of these devices. I won’t list all setup configurations, because I tried everything, but mode remains “standby”. A guide would be welcome. Any help would be appreciated. 

[jguerdat]

Start with these FAQs and ask questions:

https://kb.arlo.com/000062777/About-Arlo-Routines-Modes-Rules-and-Automations

https://kb.arlo.com/000062822/What-are-Arrive-Leave-Automations-and-how-do-I-set-it-up-for-my-Arlo-s...

And maybe:

https://kb.arlo.com/000062942/How-do-I-add-a-Schedule-Automation-to-my-Arlo-system

[Voidspaces]

Thanks. Looks like I did things correctly. So now that I have setup arrive/leave automations (anyone arrives -> standby / everyone leaves -> arm away), and made them both the only enabled automations in Arm Away/ Standby modes, if every device is out of the geofencing radius and I select “standby” it should immediately switch to “arm away”, right? I would expect this, but does not happen. 

[jguerdat]

I haven't tested it that way. My suspicion is that selecting Standby is overriding the GF setting because it was manually set. 

[Voidspaces]

Thank you. So how do I set it to geofencing?

[jguerdat]

GF is always running so you would need to manually set the mode back to the normal GF mode after manually setting it to something else.

[Voidspaces]

I’m confused, sorry. It’s either always running (and not working for me), or it has to be set manually “back to the normal GF” - right? Currently, I am indeed setting mode manually as GF does not work. How do I manually set the mode back to the normal GF? I don’t see this option. Thanks in advance 

[jguerdat]

If GF is working at all, it's always checking your location and will set the mode appropriately. Manually changing it means you've overriden the GF settings so you would need to once again set the mode manually to get back to where it should be.

Of course, GF has to be working in the first place. At this point, I'd suggest official support using the app to go to Settings, Support, choose a camera model and scroll down to Contacts.

[jcplonghorn]

Same here. One of the two designated people (devices) leaves, and randomly throughout the day, the indoor cameras are recording even though the one person is home. The mode is set for only outside cameras when we are home. This is a recent problem with a recent app update or firmware update on the cameras, not sure which. It had worked perfectly for years. 

[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.

[Bah0482]

I am also having geofencing issues. Same experience worked fine until the new app. Geofencing is one of the main reasons I own arlo cameras. Good to know they are aware but they need to communicate to users more that they know of this issue. 

[jcrain]

Hi, I can't seem to configure Schedules and Automations to work seamlessly.  I thought I had set this up correctly, but on a recent trip away from home, we discovered that the app was not switching modes as I had thought.

I want the Geofencing to work at all times, and the Schedules to work when we are home. In the old app this was easy to set up.

In the new app, the scheduling is not recognising our geofencing location once the schedule expires. So we've been away and the cameras have switched off in the morning, despite us being away. If I flip the logic, the cameras remain on, even though we are still home.

Want I want to do:

• At 11pm each night, turn on all cameras, if they are not already on because of geofencing.
• At sunrise, turn off all cameras, but only if we are home.

With geofencing, Arm Home when anyone arrives home. Arm Away when all Leave.

Can anyone please assist?

[StephenB]

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@jcrain wrote:

Can anyone please assist?

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If you remove automations for geofencing, does the schedule work as desired?

[jcrain]

No.

If I change the schedule to Arm Away at the end of the schedule, the cameras remain on, even when we are home.

If change the schedule to Arm Home at the end of the schedule, the cameras switch off, even if we are away.

Basically, the geofencing doesn't work once the scheduling ends regardless of our location. Maybe I've set it up wrong.  I have to say, like other users, the interface is not intuitive at all. e.g. When scheduling ends, I'd expect an option to resume to normal geofencing, instead I have to select Geo Leave, Geo arrive, Arm Away or Arm Home. None of these behave correctly.

[StephenB]

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@jcrain wrote:

If I change the schedule to Arm Away at the end of the schedule, the cameras remain on, even when we are home.

If change the schedule to Arm Home at the end of the schedule, the cameras switch off, even if we are away.

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I'm not certain what you mean by "change the schedule".

Feed uses a different model for scheduling (scheduling an event to change the mode), so you do need one automation for each transition point.  One automation to switch to Arm Away whan you want to shift to that, and a second automation to switch to "Arm Home" when you want to switch to that.

Is that you've set up?

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062942/How-do-I-add-a-Schedule-Automation-to-my-Arlo-system

[jcrain]

I mean "add" a schedule.

Sorry but I don't follow the rest of your post. 

All I want to do is have the cameras on between 11pm and Sunrise everyday no matter what. For all other times, it should be choosing mode based on geofence location. There is no option to do that, that I can see, unlike the old app.

[StephenB]

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@jcrain wrote:

All I want to do is have the cameras on between 11pm and Sunrise everyday no matter what. For all other times, it should be choosing mode based on geofence location. There is no option to do that, that I can see, unlike the old app.

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I suggest reading the link I posted.

To set up the schedule you need to set up two automations.  One to trigger armed home (or armed away) at 11 pm, and another to trigger standby at sunrise.  Have you done that step?

[jcrain]

Yes, I have a schedule set for 11pm Arm Away, and another for Sunrise (currently Arm Home as per the article but it doesn't work as we need. If we are not Home when the schedule triggers at sunrise, the geofence doesn't recognise this and the cameras turn off anyway).

Why are you suggesting Standby for the second schedule?

[StephenB]

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@jcrain wrote:

Why are you suggesting Standby for the second schedule?

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Perhaps I am misunderstanding what behavior you wanted. It sounded like you wanted the cameras to be turned off at sunrise.  So I suggested standby.  But the modes are editable, so you could use a different mode to turn them off.

I do think you'll get this sorted out more quickly if you work on one element at a time.  I was thinking that getting the schedule to work correctly first, and then adding in geofencing was the best way - but I am seeing at a thread from last fall saying that they needed to set up Arrive/Leave automations first in order to get it to work properly.   That does make sense, since you'll need to have exceptions in the time schedule to prevent geofencing from turning off the cameras between 11 pm and sunrise.    

• https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Secure/Arlo-Pro-5-Setting-up-Geofencing-and-Schedule-Routines-to-...

[jcrain]

At sunrise, I'd like the cameras to use our location/geofencing to determine if we are home (turn them off) or away (leave them on).

There does not appear to be a way of doing this. I am forced to choose a Mode, or Geofencing Leave or GeoFencing Arrive. None of these are suitable or work as I would expect. 

[StephenB]

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@jcrain wrote:

There does not appear to be a way of doing this. I am forced to choose a Mode, or Geofencing Leave or GeoFencing Arrive. None of these are suitable or work as I would expect. 

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FWIW, I agree this is quite complicated (and likely buggy at the moment).

I am not certain that I completely understand what you want.  But I am thinking that you

1. want the cameras on between 11 pm and sunrise whether you are home or not
2. want the cameras enabled whenever you are away
3. do not want the cameras enabled between sunrise and 11 pm when you are home 

Is this a complete description of the desired behavior?

[jcrain]

Correct.

The issue appears to be what happens at the end of the sunrise schedule. After sunrise, how do we get the app to test our location using geofencing and enter the correct mode (Away if not home, Home if at home)?