Two recent Arlo app updates disrupted my Arlo Q

[shmihe]

I was away from my home for most of the day, so I periodically check in on my dogs by way of an Arlo Q wired camera. 

After checking some of the videos, I realized that they had stopped at a certain point. But, I kept receiving new notifications for the next 3 hours. 

I also could not access live video viewing. 

Obviously, my internet at home was not out, nor my Wi-Fi router or modem. Otherwise, how would I be getting alerts? 

When I finally got home, I still wasn't able to view any video, or live view. 

Curiously enough, my Arlo app had updated at 6:37 AM EST on that very morning. I tried deleting the cache, and restarting the app, and also uninstalling and reinstalling the app. Nothing changed.

Finally, I restarted the camera from within the app. After 10 or 15 minutes, it worked as it should. But, almost a week later, my missing 3 hours of video had not been restored. 

My Arlo Q came with rolling 7-Day free video storage. Although I did have a subscription for a while when I also had an Arlo AVD, I reverted to the free 7-Day once that device expired (also after an app update!).

I am also unable to get chat or email support, due to the fact that Arlo feels that it's okay to not support any older (working) product. EVEN THOUGH, this is too much of a coincidence to tell me that it's not from the app update. 

A month or so ago, I lost the Arlo Q cam (would not reset and connect) due to ANOTHER app update!!!! The app update kicked my camera completely offline.

I was put through the usual interrogation and hardware reset/settings/uninstall/reinstall/delete & reinstall app etc.  **Yes, somehow I still had support for an unsupported device then!** Only to find out by way of a response to my bad review on Google Play, that it was indeed caused by the app, which had been fixed/replaced (although it didn't show up as a NEW update in Google Play!!!).

I feel like Arlo doesn't care so much about the customer anymore. It would go a long way if they still supported customers whose hardware from a couple years ago still works. It would also do them well, to admit incompatibility or errors brought about by new app updates. 

There needs to be an allowance for those of us with no longer supported hardware, to have support for the app at least! My app is Arlo Secure, and I am entitled to seven day free recording through this app with no subscription - that's how it was sold, that's how I bought it.  Support shouldn't be based on whether you subscribe or not.

If the hardware still works fine, but the app doesn't, does that not make any sense?

A simple app update should not cause anybody's hardware to not be able to view 3 hours of their videos (not shown/available to view in my app). The hardware saw the movement and recorded video, otherwise I wouldn't be getting an alert for all of them for the entire 3 hrs.

And finally, Arlo reports no service interruption for them on that date.

[shmihe]

Two recent Arlo app updates disrupted my Arlo Q:

I want to know if this is going to be the new norm, can I expect this to continue with every app update from here out? 

One of these updates kicked my Arlo Q offline completely, and absolutely nothing would get it back online. That IS until I got a response to my bad review on Google Play (from an Arlo employee) - stating that they had fixed the "we are aware of a" problem with the update. 

My more recent issue, involves not being able to live view my video camera and 3 hours of missing videos  (for which I received notifications for all of them). The Arlo app updated that very morning at 6:37 AM EST.

Since I wasn't able to get any support, for the (no longer supported 😡) Arlo Q, or for the Arlo Secure app (which CLEARLY caused the problem), I had to figure out the issue myself. 

After trying everything else with the app, uninstall/reinstall, clear cache, etc - a couple of hardware restarts cleared the issue. 

But, I'm STILL missing three hours of video from October 23rd, 2024. 

And, I only have 7 Day (free) rolling video recording - I am no longer subscribed. I had been a subscriber when I had an Arlo AVD, but reverted back to the free 7-Day which came with the Arlo Q. 

My problem is this, when the app updates and it causes hardware problems that weren't there before, shouldn't I still be able to get app support? 

I think it's a very poor decision to not support older working devices, but that is what it is I guess. The app SHOULD BE supported as a separate entity, and there should be more transparency if there are any glitches/issues/hardware incompatibilities.

Also, if at some point the app will be completely incompatible with older hardware, there should also be a notification of some sort. That way, those of us with older and now insupported by Arlo hardware, can (hopefully) stay on an older version of the app that actually works.

It has been my experience with two devices, since 2017 the 90% plus of all the issues I've had, are caused by app updates and or possibly firmware updates. 

There are never any warnings or notes given with the update, to indicate any possible issues and solutions that may be caused/have to be remediated.

It would be nice if the support team would work backwards from the app, instead of blaming the user/user error/hardware malfunction/incorrect setup/ poor internet speed or connection.