Arlo Pro 5S devices display

[KKS-Col]

Using an iPad app (latest version) . I opened the Arlo app this morning in order to view current camera views. There had been NO alerts during the overnight period. Every camera view (7 of them with a mix of Pro2 and Pro5) went to a “night” display, black and white, as though an alert had happened on all of them; every one for a time (upper left corner of image) stated “now” as though it had just happened, but it was daylight and the image was nighttime. 3 of these are connected to a hub and the others are wireless connections to the internet.  This is the first time I’ve seen this happen in nearly 8 years of using Arlo cameras.

[Killhippie]

Any news of a fix for this, I had a firmware update which kind of helped but it is still changing thumbnails, just not as often all in all I am very disappointed. It looked like it was working this morning and was showing the thumbnails from last nights image capture but then changed to 'now'  on its own again and is showing pitch black for now at 11am when it should not have changed to now at all and maintained images from last night. This is getting ridiculous. 

[KKS-Col]

Going on two months now, but no fix. When the app is opened, the thumbnails will blink and change, the time says “now”. But it is not the current image for the scene and may not be any previous image created by an alert or a livestream. 
Not sure the engineers have a clue.

[Killhippie]

well the fact no one is helping says more, and its eating battery life like crazy too. I feel totally let donw and I want compensation for a stsem I cant se.

I have to say I'm beyond fed up, no answer no help, no explanation and battery life that's being eaten like crazy. 😞 I want come form of compensation or replacement cameras that work. Bearing in mind I have the outdoor charger too. 

[BrookeN]

@Killhippie we are still investigating the battery drain behavior you are seeing. Even if we sent a replacement camera you would still see the same behavior. I will reach out to our development team and update the community as soon as possible. 

[Killhippie]

What about the broken thumbnails as well? If an event is detected the app freezes up iOS 26 screen  for a few seconds with it being just blank when you click on the notification. The app, the ever changing widget and device thumbnails and now battery drain, this is a unholy mess. 

[BrookeN]

The thumbnails are still being investigated as well. 

[KKS-Col]

They should be investigating. I opened the Arlo app this afternoon. All the thumbnails flashed and displayed a nighttime thumbnail and said “now”. I have no idea what time that thumbnail was taken; it was not the last image; and it certainly was not the time of “now” since it was bright sunshine, not night.

[Killhippie]

Well now for some reason smart notifications are turned off and in the web app it says my devices don't support smart notifications, so what am I paying for? It does seem to have cured those weird image changes though, no idea how they got disabled though. As they were on last time I looked. <sigh> So sick of this and the lack of help.

[BrookeN]

livePlease make sure they are set up correctly and then send me screenshots of the app saying smart notifications are not supported. 

[BrookeN]

Please follow these steps to make sure the smart notifications are set up correctly. And then send me a screenshot that you are seeing stating they are not supported. 

https://kb.arlo.com/000063424/What-are-Arlo-Smart-Detections-and-how-do-I-set-them-up

[KKS-Col]

Today is November 19. The flashing, changing of the images, resetting of time to “now” (which is not the current image), continues to occur. The latest version of the iPad app for Arlo is installed and the iPad (M4) has been updated (OS 26.1). Just in case someone thinks this has been resolved. It has not.

[BrookeN]

It is still currently being investigated. We are aware that it is not resolved, I will update you as soon as possible. 

[Killhippy]

Well I lost my account because I decided enough was enough to start a new account. I lost £11 to reset both cameras which when you’re in a wheelchair is not easy cause you have to get help and it’s still a mess and I can’t login from my iPad M5 or make it a trusted device because it froze up weird errors even on the new account, the same error that everyone seems to be getting on the iPhone 17 so I really don’t know what’s going on, but I am not impressed. maybe something content is what the hell is going on and why an iPad M5 can’t login and why a new account keeps throwing up now on iOS every six or seven hours when you haven’t actually started a live stream, I thought a new account might clear any corruption out, but no, it’s still coming up with now. It’s just that there aren’t any new stream to replace the old pictures with yet I’m sure the same behaviour where past images will start appearing will start again. This is a total mess   

[Killhippie]

At least I got my account back but I still am stuck, the M5 ipad throws up the same errors as the iPhone 17's I seen people complaining about online, so nope I cant login. 'Invalid data factor' or just 'Error' so even with a new account it wont work. Oh and its started to make weird images again, you open the app and it suddenly says now and the thumbnail changes, how can that be with a full factory reset and a new account? What has happened Arlo? 

[BrookeN]

As previously stated the NOW feature is expected behavior. The thumbnails showing day instead of night however is not an expected feature and is being investigated. For the behavior of not being able to login to the app, please try these steps:

Manually offload an app:
 

• 1. Open the Settings app.
• 2. Tap General.
• 3. Tap iPhone Storage.
• 4. Wait for the list of apps to load, then select the app you want to offload (Arlo Secure App).
• 5. Tap Offload App.
• 6. Confirm by tapping Offload App again in the pop-up warning
• 7. Do not reinstall app
• 8. Go to app still on iPhone , open it and it should let you log in. 

[Killhippie]

First of all, what is the expected behaviour for [NOW]?

Because right now, it just says “Now” or “1m ago”  but shows a thumbnail from the middle of the night. That’s not “Now.” That’s a recycled infrared frame.

This morning at 9:31 a.m., while it was sunny outside, both of my cameras updated both widgets simultaneously with a pitch-black infrared night shot yet again. So either the system can’t tell the time, or it’s not actually pulling a new image. Either way, something is wrong.

Also, that trick with offloading the app does not change anything. I’ve done it. The iPad still isn’t trusted, still won’t log in, and nothing improves.

I’m honestly just tired of hearing the same advice over and over. No offence meant  but this has been going on for months, and nothing you’re suggesting is making the slightest difference.

This is why I’m convinced it’s a back-end issue:

• I’ve offloaded and reinstalled the app.
• I’ve deleted the app entirely and reinstalled it fresh.
• I’ve created a brand new Arlo account.
• I’ve fully reset both cameras to factory default.
• I’ve even wiped the iPad completely and set it up from scratch.

The same issue still happens.

Now there’s a new message on both cameras:

“This device is idle but available to detect motion, audio, and view live video.”

Yet despite being “idle,” the thumbnails still update roughly twice a day  always with old-vision images, like the one that showed up in broad daylight this morning. That’s not just a display bug  that’s a serious mismatch between what the app shows and what’s really happening.

The lack of transparency, and the fact that this still hasn’t been escalated properly, are honestly more frustrating than the bug itself.

Please escalate this to someone who can look at the actual back-end behaviour of my account and devices. I’ve exhausted every local fix  this now needs proper attention.

[BrookeN]

The thumbnail is not expected behavior. We are still currently investigating that. 

[Killhippie]

Well no answer to as to what 'NOW' is still <sigh> and is it meant to change when you open the app, no idea why its happening and I still cannot get my iPad to join. I am beyond fed up now. and I can never get Arlo to answer the phone. I really need help but Arlo in the UK is like a damp sock. Not good for anything much, I really need help, not more of the same which seems to be don’t answer the question directly and we have no idea whats going on with why this odd feature keeps happening, even though in all the years ive been with Arlo 'NOW' meant when there was an event triggered not random image changes twice a day.

[StephenB]

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@Killhippie wrote:

Well no answer to as to what 'NOW' is 

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Did you see post 3 in this thread?

• https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo/Unusual-Behavior-with-the-APP-Since-the-Latest-Firmware-Update/m-...

[BrookeN]

I apologize I thought I had explained how the now feature works. 

There are three ways Timestamp and Thumbnail will be updated.. The "Now" timestamp is expected:

1. After hitting the play button to do Livestream
2. When motion is being detected
3. This was just recently implemented. Upon app re-launch, when the thumbnail is 8 hours or older, it will update the Timestamp to "Now" and the image/snapshot will be updated accordingly as well. So, when you launch the app at 8 AM then ideally the image/snapshot should be the 8AM view. But we have an issue being reported that the thumbnail is not being updated and this is still currently being investigated with our Dev Team. 

[StephenB]

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@BrookeN wrote:

 Upon app re-launch, when the thumbnail is 8 hours or older, it will update the Timestamp to "Now" and the image/snapshot will be updated accordingly as well. 

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Just to clarify this - my understanding is that this will NOT happen when the camera is off or disarmed.

If I have that wrong, please correct it!

[BrookeN]

It should not happen if the camera is off or disarmed that is correct. 

[KKS-Col]

Item 3 is exactly what I am experiencing. I am glad someone is working to get the “now” image to be the current camera view snapshot. I review my cameras in the early morning, and that is more than 8 hours after the previous viewing usually. The images flash, state now, but the image is not the current view. Thanks Brooke.

[Killhippie]

Thankls for clearing the now situation up BrookeN This is exactly what is happening to my cameras when disarmed, as well. Twice a day 8 hours apart the camera images change but its not the current image. This has been going on for so but I'm experiencing exactly what KKS-Col is experiencing and on a new account after a full factory reset of both cameras. My images flash but they are not the current images. Sorry If I have appeared slow with this but I am opn 130mg of Morphine a day and it gives me brain fog which is not always helpful on forums.  

[BrookeN]

@Killhippie no worries at all. The team is still currently investigating this. As soon as I have an update I will reach back out.