Activity Zones on Arlo Pro

[Wayne-UK]

Can we please get the activity zones to work again, like they used to in the past before somebody foolishly applied an update to the app without checking that everything worked as it should?

This new update is completely stupid as you end up with a library full of recordings and need to go through them to find the ones that alerted you. It would be so much more convenient to go back to the "Activity Zone" system and only trigger and record in the set activity zone so we are not alerted by trees in the wind, neighbours, cars, pedestrians, etc that are outside of the activity set zone area that was previously set and working fine before the upgrade.

I wish I had not applied the upgrade, is there any way to role it back to the old version where Activity Zones worked fine please?

[StephenB]

---

@Wayne-UK wrote:

I wish I had not applied the upgrade, is there any way to role it back to the old version where Activity Zones worked fine please?

---

This has nothing to do with the new app, so downgrading to the old app won't change the behavior.   You need a paid subscription to get cloud activity zones. 

[Wayne-UK]

I did not say anything about "Cloud".  I have never had a cloud subscription and the zones have worked fine right here on my personal computer.  Since the upgrade, I do not have the ability to use zones anymore, the option simply does not work, SINCE THE UPGRADE!

Not sure how to make myself any clearer.  The only change in my entire system is the upgrade upon arrival in New Zealand.

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

---

@Wayne-UK wrote:

I did not say anything about "Cloud".  I have never had a cloud subscription and the zones have worked fine right here on my personal computer. 

---

When you log into your Arlo account on your PC, you are using your web browser to connect to the Arlo Cloud - whether you have a paid subscription or not.

No matter what you think, activity zones for the Arlo Pro are (and always were) processed in the cloud - the camera has no hardware support for them.  Whenever motion is detected  by your cameras, the video is streamed to the Arlo Cloud.  If activity zones are enabled, it then checks to see if the video includes motion inside the zone.  If it does, then the video is saved.  If it doesn't, the video is dropped.  

When the feature was first introduced, I believe it was free.  But quite a while ago Arlo changed that, so it now requires a paid subscription.  That change was made well before the transition to the new app.

Arlo Pro 2 cameras (and later) do have hardware support for activity zones - so they are available on those cameras with no subscription.  But that requires the cameras to be AC powered - if they are battery powered,  you still would need a paid subscription and you would be using Cloud activity zones.

[Wayne-UK]

Much better response, thank you.

Really strange that the zones worked fine in the UK, but not here in New Zealand?  Guess the move and update where just coincidental then?

Disappointed also that the facility was removed it was really handy, guess I'll be on the hunt for a system now that can do zones without forcing me into monthly contracts that I neither want or need.