Unrecognized error to play stream

[Zzzzzzzzzz]

For the last week or two (or more), I regularly get a error message when I try to do a Live Stream. 

"Unrecognized error to play stream"

And for a while now, my Arlo Qs tend to serve up black screens when I try to Live Stream. I either have to wait a while for the picture to show up, or I close and try again

It happens with my Arlo Q and Arlo Baby cameras. I haven't noticed it yet with my Pro 2s. But @AndreaM1 posted about the same issue with Pro 2s back in June. The post was closed, and a moderator told her to contact support.

"https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Pro-2/Unrecognized-error-to-play-stream/m-p/1776257"

However, I can't contact support because I have only legacy cameras with the 7 day free storage.

I am still on the app versions with the Library. I haven't updated the Android app recently because every time I update more issues occur, so I decided to stop updating. 

Anyone else having these issues?

Has Arlo stopped supporting the cameras?

[StephenB]

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@Zzzzzzzzzz wrote:

Has Arlo stopped supporting the cameras?

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Pro, Pro 2, Baby, and Q are all end-of-life.  So they are no longer supported.  You should have gotten an email back in 2023 saying that.

They should still work, but some features might drop off over time. 

[Zzzzzzzzzz]

For some reason, I was thinking that they had been extended to end of 2025. But I searched, and it looks like they were EOL on Jan 1, 2025. Bummer....

Everything was working OK until recently, and I realize now that none of my Arlo Baby cams will live stream on my Samsung tablet but will on my cell phone. But they detect motion and log video OK.

Such a waste. Hardware-wise, they all still work fine-even the Pro 2s that have been outside in the brutal desert sun for 7+ years. The night vision no longer works on one and is greatly diminshed on another. However, the Pro 2 with limited night vision even recorded a huge coyote climbing over the wall in the middle of the night, and my new Reolink completely missed it. One Arlo Q has been baking in the window but still works great. I invested in A LOT of Arlo cameras because of the free 7 day recordings....

Not sure if I want to go to the new Arlo subscription cameras. The monthly fees have gotten really high, and I wonder if the new Arlo cams are as durable as the legacy cameras.  And it sounds like their support is non-existent, and people seem to have a lot of difficulty canceling their subscriptions. 

[DLondeen]

I have been receiving the same message, " Unrecognized error to play stream."  It affects all three of my Ultra 2's in the app. Once I stop the stream and restart, the message goes away. It started about two weeks ago (week of June 23). Will reply back if rebooting the base station and cameras make a change.

[BrookeN]

I have reached out to our development team regarding the error you are receiving. I will update the community as soon as possible. 

[Sorahl]

Looking forward to them fixing this..
I spent too much money on these just a few years ago to think about replacing them because of some software error...

[BrookeN · Accepted solution]

I have spoke to the development team and have suggested that you upgrade to the newest user experience. You can kick start the update by going into the app and starting the onboard process of the Pro 5. (even if you do not have one) And then follow the steps to upgrade. 

[DLondeen]

I was able to upgrade the app by adding the Pro 5 camera. So far , so good. I'll post if the message returns.

Note: When the app asked to detect up the camera, I backed out and restarted the app since I did not have a Pro 5 to actually use.. 

[Zzzzzzzzzz]

@BrookeN 

Hi Brooke, 

When I first posted about the "Unrecognized error to play stream," it was happening on my Android tablet that had the latest app version, and it was only for one Arlo Baby. And the Arlo Baby was not able to live stream on the andoird tablet at all. But, live stream worked for all my cameras on my Samsung android phone.

Yesterday, the Arlo app forced me to upgrade to the latest version on my Samsung android phone. App version 6.2.8_6020802 released 7/25/25. I was avoiding upgrading the app because with each app upgrade, there seems to be more issues.

So today, the Arlo app on my phone, that previously did not have issues with Live stream, is now having the same error on all my Arlo cameras (Arlo Q, Pro 2, and Arlo Baby). Live stream works on minute for a camera, and then a minute later, I get the "Unrecognized error to play stream" message. There is no pattern that I can figure. I rebooted my cell phone and cleared the app cache. I do notice that sometimes a black screen occurs for an extended period before showing a live stream. And sometimes, it just hangs, and then I stop it and reinitiate it. 

I don't think it's just a legacy camera issue. Here's a post from someone with the same issues with their Pro 3 cameras.

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Pro-3/quot-Unrecognized-error-to-play-stream-quot-Pro-3/td-p/2456...

Can you please let the developers know that this issue is occuring to see if they can fix it?

Thank you!

[BrookeN]

I noticed that you did not update and you are still on the old user interface. As I had stated previously you need to migrate to the new User Interface. I provided instructions on how to do that as well. 

"I have spoke to the development team and have suggested that you upgrade to the newest user experience. You can kick start the update by going into the app and starting the onboard process of the Pro 5. (even if you do not have one) And then follow the steps to upgrade. "