ARLO Secure android app

[alex_loo]

Just received and got updated to this 5.0.4_28750, on my android 14 here.

Same old question: what's new, what's fixed?

To me, it doesn't seem to fix my show-stoppers here --- (geofencing) "Automation arrive" and "Automation leave" still NOT working all the time.

Alex

[alex_loo]

And now it's 5.0.5_28754 android app.  geofencing issues are still there, sigh.

Alex

[Edinburgh_lad1]

And there's a new one. Go to 'Add a device' on dashboard, cancel on the onboarding process. My camera tiles show in black, except for Arlo HD.

And the lack of streaming in 4k hasn't been addressed. 

So, what's new? New issues and old ones not resolved. 

This company is a perpetual and self-inflected mess.

[alex_loo]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

And there's a new one. Go to 'Add a device' on dashboard, cancel on the onboarding process. My camera tiles show in black, except for Arlo HD.

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Personally I don't see this an issue.  If I leave the dashboard (say switching to another app in my android) with the tiles streaming, the ARLO app has been turning off those streamings, since multiple versions ago.  I find this quite good that I won't waste the battery with the cameras, if I forgot to turn them off from the dashboard.

Alex

[StephenB]

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@alex_loo wrote:

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

And there's a new one. Go to 'Add a device' on dashboard, cancel on the onboarding process. My camera tiles show in black, except for Arlo HD.

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Personally I don't see this an issue. 

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Are you saying you 

1. started to "add a device" from the dashboard,
2. canceled the onboarding
3. confirmed that the tiles show normally?

[alex_loo]

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@StephenB wrote:

Are you saying you 

1. started to "add a device" from the dashboard,
2. canceled the onboarding
3. confirmed that the tiles show normally?

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NOT 3.  Tiles are blacked out, basically the streamings are turned off.  And I find such "turning off" making (my) sense.

Alex

[StephenB]

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@alex_loo wrote:

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@StephenB wrote:

Are you saying you 

1. started to "add a device" from the dashboard,
2. canceled the onboarding
3. confirmed that the tiles show normally?

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NOT 3.  Tiles are blacked out, basically the streamings are turned off.  And I find such "turning off" making (my) sense.

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Arlo intends for the cameras to show the last captured image on both the "device" page and in the dashboard widgets.  That could be from a recording, or it could be from a livestream.  No idea why @Edinburgh_lad1 isn't seeing that, but I think it is a bug. 

[Edinburgh_lad1]

They're black. No last picture. Alex seems to have the same problem.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

[BrookeN]

@Edinburgh_lad1 do you mind sending me a screenshot of what you are seeing? You can dm it to me if you would like. 

[Edinburgh_lad1]

Just posted above @BrookeN 

[BrookeN]

Have either of you tried to uninstall and reinstall the app to see if that changes the black tiles?

[Edinburgh_lad1]

@BrookeN sorry, is this a joke?

[BrookeN]

I am making sure what troubleshooting steps were preformed so all information is sent to the development team. 

[alex_loo]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

They're black. No last picture. Alex seems to have the same problem.

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I am seeing the same BEHAVIOUR here, but I don't see this an issue.  I'd rather see ARLO focus on fixing show-stopper ISSUES like failing geofencing.

@BrookeN , if you are helping with escalating issue, please make sure you have my view that fixing geofencing issue is still the top priority issue to be resolved.

Alex

Alex

[Edinburgh_lad1]

Geofencing not working has been an issue for months. I don't think it's a priority, as it'd have been fixed by now. Or they have no man power to do it, or it's beyond them.

@BrookeN yes, I performed all troubleshooting, including clearing caches, uninstalling, restarting etc. since this has appeared following the firmware/app upgrade, it's an issue at Arlo's end. It doesn't happen for my Arlo HD camera, but Ultra only. So, it's either an Ultra thing, or a local storage thing.

[BrookeN]

@alex_loo we are actively investigating Geofencing and are currently working on a fix. 

@Edinburgh_lad1 I appreciate that information. 

[alex_loo]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

Geofencing not working has been an issue for months. I don't think it's a priority, as it'd have been fixed by now. Or they have no man power to do it, or it's beyond them.

"geofencing not working has been an issue for months" but then you "don't think it's a priority"?

More importantly, has it been "fixed by now", from your perspective?

Just getting confused here mate.

Alex

[alex_loo]

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@BrookeN wrote:

@alex_loowe are actively investigating Geofencing and are currently working on a fix. 

@BrookeN thanks.  Just a few feedback here:

• Does ARLO know exactly what the root cause to the geofencing issue is?  In case ARLO doesn't and needs more evidence/error scenarios/screenshots, at least myself from this forum is more than happy to help with troubleshooting (even on the level of an dev app with extra logs/ messages)
• In case ARLO already knows the root cause (and I hope ARLO does), are you able to share the timeline for the fix?   "yes, we are working on the fix" is such a wrong management on our expectation

On a side note, many times I am keen to understand where ARLO app thought my device's GPS location is, every time geofencing fails.  Is there any way I can see such information that ARLO's geofencing is relying on?

Alex

[StephenB]

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@alex_loo wrote:

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

Geofencing not working has been an issue for months. I don't think it's a priority, as it'd have been fixed by now. Or they have no man power to do it, or it's beyond them.

"geofencing not working has been an issue for months" but then you "don't think it's a priority"?

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@Edinburgh_lad1 is just saying that he doesn't think fixing geofencing is really a priority for ARLO.  The reasoning is just that it's been months now since the issue surfaced, and they haven't done anything about it yet.

Personally I think the possible solutions require them to completely rethink their approach on automations and modes.  Plus any solution needs to be harmonized with the home security system.  So I'm not surprised that is taking them a while.  That said, it is certainly frustrating.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

@StephenB 

Do you mean the alarm system? If so, it's not even available in Europe. Plus, CCTV is separate from the alarm system, isn't it? Essentially, things get geared for the US market, but the European market is completely different: different needs, different expectations, different solutions, different EU laws. And then you have individual target audiences: that of the UK is different from that of Sweden etc. Even in the UK itself, there are differences between different markets.

[alex_loo]

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@StephenB wrote:

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@alex_loo wrote:

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

Geofencing not working has been an issue for months. I don't think it's a priority, as it'd have been fixed by now. Or they have no man power to do it, or it's beyond them.

"geofencing not working has been an issue for months" but then you "don't think it's a priority"?

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@Edinburgh_lad1 is just saying that he doesn't think fixing geofencing is really a priority for ARLO.  The reasoning is just that it's been months now since the issue surfaced, and they haven't done anything about it yet.

Personally I think the possible solutions require them to completely rethink their approach on automations and modes.  Plus any solution needs to be harmonized with the home security system.  So I'm not surprised that is taking them a while.  That said, it is certainly frustrating.

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ah I see, I misread that.  thanks for clarifying this mate.

Alex

[StephenB]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

@StephenB 

Do you mean the alarm system? If so, it's not even available in Europe. Plus, CCTV is separate from the alarm system, isn't it? 

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I mean the home security system.  Although you can get the system w/o cameras, it is integrated with the cameras and can be controlled from the same app - so it is not separate. 

"Not available in Europe" (at least not yet) isn't that relevant to Arlo, they aren't going to support two different app experiences for the long term.  Personally I think their attempts to keep both "Library" and "Feed" operational using the same cloud is the main factor in the recent increase in bugs/quality issues we've all seen.

While I get that talking about the home security system to folks who don't own one sounds like an excuse, Arlo really has to keep them working together seamlessly.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

But is this Arlo Ultra system that I own a security system or CCTV system because I'm now confused. Most or all in Europe will say it's the the latter.

Bugs have been from the start, and in relation to the experience with Feed. Also, you can't not consider other potential factors in bugs not being promptly or accurately or at all addressed, such as poor management, fewer coders, less able coders, less pay, increased turnaround of coders, instructions to make the system more efficient (cut down bit rate, frame rate, use more compression to reduce size etc.) to reduce data flow and data storage, having too much to deal with, having a different set-up in Europe (Verisure) etc etc. I don't think Arlo understands the way things work in Europe and is trying to impose the way things work in the US.

Well, the solution is simple: the experience with Feed in those markets where the alarm system is available like the US and Canada, and Library in those that it isn't like Europe. The latter is relatively bug free and so would require little maintenance. Just about the only bug that I ever had to report was the notification dot issue, whereas with the experience with Feed, the list is very long and increasing. Also, you can't impose on someone something so customised to a specific product that isn't available and expect it to run seamlessly. I don't probably need to illustrate this using imagery, right, that it's like trying to fit a sofa in a room that can't accommodate it?

[Edinburgh_lad1]

And I can't imagine Verisure, which is Arlo's rep in Europe, to want to introduce Arlo's security system here. This would mean a direct competition to their own system, which is what Verisure is about - security systems.