Disable automations

[MLP_]

Hello, I have some trouble setting up my outlook camera as I want since the last update to the new Arlo experience.

I am looking for the possibility to override the automations, and have an additional mode with all cameras on and one additional mode with all cameras off without any automation. 

Scenario is, I am at home. The cameras are off and when I leave home geofencing activate the cameras.

I want to be able in some exceptional cases to disable the automation. Because I have more than one camera I don’t want to completely remove the  automations from my setting, that’s too annoying . I need something fast and easy to use. 

In the previous version of this software (which was better imho) it was possible to override the geofencing by either activating or deactivating all cameras manually.

I tried to solve my problem with a custom mode but was not able to edit the mode as I wanted. 

[StephenB]

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@MLP_ wrote:

In the previous version of this software (which was better imho) it was possible to override the geofencing by either activating or deactivating all cameras manually.

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With the new app, you can enable/disable cameras from their device setting wheel.  That won't work with the doorbells, but will work with all other cameras.

[MLP_]

Thanks but hat does not override the automations.

I want to enable all cameras and regardless of the schedule or regardless if I move inside or outside the geofencing area the cameras shall stay activated.
The same for the opposite with deactivation. 

[StephenB]

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@MLP_ wrote:

Thanks but hat does not override the automations.

I want to enable all cameras and regardless of the schedule or regardless if I move inside or outside the geofencing area the cameras shall stay activated.
The same for the opposite with deactivation. 

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Disabled it not the same as "armed",  so changing the mode doesn't affect the disabled/enabled state.  And cameras will not be armed when they are disabled.

I have several disabled cameras in my own account, and neither the schedule nor the geofencing enables them (or arms them). 

Of course the automations will kick in when the camera is enabled.   But your scenario was only how to block the automation, and disabling the camera does that.

[MLP_]

Ok, disabling the cameras will solve my first problem, thanks for the suggestion.

what about the second scenario? 

[StephenB]

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@MLP_ wrote:

Ok, disabling the cameras will solve my first problem, thanks for the suggestion.

what about the second scenario? 

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I only see one scenario.  Can you give more details on how you want the second one to behave?

[MLP_]

I want to activate my 2 cameras manually and then disable the automation. 

[MLP_]

With the old app all this was possible with one button. 

[StephenB]

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@MLP_ wrote:

I want to activate my 2 cameras manually and then disable the automation. 

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Just to clarify this scenario:

• How many cameras do you have?
• Do you only want to control these two cameras manually?  Or do you sometimes want the automations to control them?

Also, how are you using the three built-in modes now?

[MLP_]

I have 2 cameras.

Under standard circumstances, I have 3 modes:

Standby: Activated when I am at home (activated by geofencing automation). All cameras are OFF.
Arm Home: Activated when I am at home and during the night (activated by geofencing automation and schedule automation). All cameras are ON.
Arm Away: Activated when I am away (activated by geofencing automation). All cameras are ON.
--> The 3 modes and automations are working fine.

Under exceptional circumstances, I want to be able to:

a. Activate all cameras and ignore all automations.
b. Deactivate all cameras and ignore all automations.

Use cases:

a. There is a park close to my house. It is not far enough away to trigger geofencing reliably, as I keep moving in and out of the geofencing area. I want to be able to activate all cameras manually and have them ignore the geofencing automation when I get too close. (A smaller geofencing radius would solve the problem, by the way, but this seems too complicated to implement.)

b. Sometimes I leave the house while someone is still there. As soon as I am far enough away, geofencing activates the Away mode, and I then have to switch it off manually. This is very cumbersome, as it is not possible to disable the automation before the Away mode is activated.

[StephenB]

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@MLP_ wrote:

Arm Home: Activated when I am at home and during the night (activated by geofencing automation and schedule automation). All cameras are ON.

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I think you are meaning to say the Arm Home is activated when you arrive?  

Just wanting to make sure I get the full picture.

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@MLP_ wrote:

a. There is a park close to my house. It is not far enough away to trigger geofencing reliably, as I keep moving in and out of the geofencing area. I want to be able to activate all cameras manually and have them ignore the geofencing automation when I get too close. (A smaller geofencing radius would solve the problem, by the way, but this seems too complicated to implement.)

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This one is tough with the standard modes.  You could temporarily disable your arrive automation in "Arm Away" and (if needed) switch to "Arm Away".  That would keep the cameras armed.  You'd need to remember to re-enable arrive (and not just change modes) when you want to undo it.

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@MLP_ wrote:

b. Sometimes I leave the house while someone is still there. As soon as I am far enough away, geofencing activates the Away mode, and I then have to switch it off manually. This is very cumbersome, as it is not possible to disable the automation before the Away mode is activated.

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I gave one idea on that earlier.  But you actually can disable your "Leave" automation in Standby mode before you leave.  Though again, you'd need to remember to undo that later on.  

Custom modes might also work for you - leaving the two cameras in "geofence" mode most of the time, and disarming/arming them in the exceptional circumstances.  If you used a base station, this would be one action (since custom modes apply to the base).  With wifi-connected cameras it does need to be done for both cameras, as the new interface is missing "arm all cameras" and "disarm all cameras".

[StephenB]

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@MLP_ wrote:

a. There is a park close to my house. It is not far enough away to trigger geofencing reliably, as I keep moving in and out of the geofencing area. I want to be able to activate all cameras manually and have them ignore the geofencing automation when I get too close. (A smaller geofencing radius would solve the problem, by the way, but this seems too complicated to implement.)

b. Sometimes I leave the house while someone is still there. As soon as I am far enough away, geofencing activates the Away mode, and I then have to switch it off manually. This is very cumbersome, as it is not possible to disable the automation before the Away mode is activated.

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Two more thoughts...

1. Since what you want to disable is your geofencing automations, you could just force-close the app before you leave home.  Since the app isn't running at all, arrive and leave will not be detected, so the cameras will stay in the same state.  The downside here is that you won't get any notifications until you re-launch the app.
2. You could also just turn off geofencing, and manually switch to Arm Away when you leave, and either "Arm Home" or "Standby" when you return.  More steps, but it would fairly quickly become a habit.

I agree the situation isn't ideal - Arlo missed the mark with geofencing and the limited number of built-in modes in the new interface.

[MLP_]

Thanks StephenB, actually you gave me a good idea that I will try asap: form the smartphone disable the access to location to the Arlo app.
This way I could freeze the geofencing status.

Still this does not satisfy completely my wish to be able to manually steer the behaviour of the app with all on or all off. Again, this was possible before with the old app and I am still not sure to completely get the advantages of the new app.

[MLP_]

Hi, thanks for all the inputs.
I managed to sort of get where I wanted, not in the Arlo app itself, but cutting the access to geolocation to the Arlo app from the settings of my Iphone.

Clearly the new version of the Arlo app (Arlo Experience) is a downgrade wrt my needs.
By the price of the subscription I would definitely expect more.