Geofencing and schedules new app

[wenklaw]

All

Did a search and still having issues.

had geofencing and schedules working fine on old app and now I’m really struggling, hope someone can help.

all I want to do is the following 

1) when at home I want it to follow a time schedule, ie change the mode to standby (arms some cameras) at 2200 then arm

away at 2330 (arms all cameras) and then arm home at 0530 (disarms cameras)

2) I want geofencing to arm away if I leave the property and on my return I want it to go back to the scheduled timers

3) i want geofencing when i am away to over ride the times schedules, so all my cameras remained armed.

finding it impossible. It was so easy on the old app

[StephenB]

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@wenklaw wrote:

Did a search and still having issues.

had geofencing and schedules working fine on old app and now I’m really struggling, hope someone can help.

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This combination unfortunately doesn't work at the moment.  At least, no one else has found a way either.

[wenklaw]

That was the only reason I stuck with Arlo. Gods sake talk about a backwards step

[StephenB]

I think automations generally are too hard - even if they get all the bugs fixed, the ability to enable/disable automations from other automations makes it very easy to accidentally end up with a disarmed system.

[wenklaw]

It’s very annoying either way. I don’t know why I’ve persevered with Arlo so long as they have a habit of messing things up

who thought this change was a good one

[BrookeN]

I have our development team is looking into this. I will update as soon as I can. 

[wenklaw]

And why doesn’t the armed status of my Arlo security light not show anymore? The armed icon has gone

[wenklaw]

The entire transition to this new Arlo experience has been a nightmare, ruining my security setup.  I also have a traditional burglar alarm that sends simple text messages via the mobile/cell network. It just bloody works, I never have to faff about with it.

Arlo you are messing things up big time, I shouldn’t need to waste hours messing about with settings

[wenklaw]

After deleting all automations etc so starting from scratch i have done the following which seems to be behaving as it should

1) deleted all exsiting automations

2) set up a geofencing automation to arm home when i leave, arm standby when I return

3) set up another 2 x automations, one for 2330 to arm home, one to arm standby at 0530

Last night it enabled arm home and then this morning it changed the mode to arm standby as it should(automation 3 above), i went out at 0830 and it enabled arm home and  then changed the mode back to standby on my return  as per geofencing automation (2 above) so that seems to be working

The proof its working as the old app will be when the automations effectively clash, so if I go away for the weekend will my automation number 3 over-ride my geofencing automation and enable standby at 0530 even though i am away?

Ultimately Geo-fencing should be the priority automation as i see it but god knows if Arlo have set it up that way.

We will see.

[StephenB]

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@wenklaw wrote:

After deleting all automations etc so starting from scratch i have done the following which seems to be behaving as it should

1) deleted all exsiting automations

2) set up a geofencing automation to arm home when i leave, arm standby when I return

3) set up another 2 x automations, one for 2330 to arm home, one to arm standby at 0530

Last night it enabled arm home and then this morning it changed the mode to arm standby as it should(automation 3 above), i went out at 0830 and it enabled arm home and  then changed the mode back to standby on my return  as per geofencing automation (2 above) so that seems to be working

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When you return home, the cameras will always go to standby.  So if you return home after 2330, they will be stay on standby until 0530.  You'll need to remember to manually put them into Arm Home when you do this.

Also, if you leave for more than one day, the schedule will shift to standby at 0530 the morning after you leave.  You'll either need to manually re-arm it every morning, or modify the 0530 schedule automation to put the system in Arm Home before you leave (and undo that one you return).

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@wenklaw wrote:

Ultimately Geo-fencing should be the priority automation

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There is no concept of automation priority, and automations are stateless.  They just run when the triggering event happens, and take whatever action the automation says to take.

IMO this is very broken, and the old stateful approach (where the system knew what cameras were supposed to be armed and disarmed at any point in time, and the system knew when someone was home or not) was much easier to set up correctly.

[wenklaw]

Yes the above is how i suspected things would work. I seriously con not understand how Arlo think the omission of its kingmaker function is a good idea.  

[StephenB]

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@wenklaw wrote:

Yes the above is how i suspected things would work. 

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FWIW, there are some conditional options in the automations.  But no one here has gotten them to work.

For example, it is possible to tell the 0530 schedule option to only run if the mode is Armed Home, and only have the 2230 run if the mode is Standby.  Then have the leave automation switch to Armed Away instead of Armed Home.  If that option actually worked it would solve the multiple days away scenario, but its not enough to handle the case when you arrive home between 2230 and 0530.  It's just too hard for users to get the logic exactly right for their situation, and if you get it wrong you can end up with your system stuck in standby until you manually change it.

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@wenklaw wrote:

I seriously con not understand how Arlo think the omission of its kingmaker function is a good idea.  

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They obviously some serious errors in this part of the design.  The lack of custom modes is another huge fail.

[wenklaw]

Looking at the 'add actions' within my Geofencing automation when i leave the house I can disable the 'schedules' I have created within 'automations'.  So if i disable them all when i leave and then enable them all when i arrive?  Doesnt that work? I assume you are referring to the scenario if i arrive back after a trigger event, so if i arrived home after 2230 but before 2359 it would only trigger the arm away automation when the time hit 2359 ? It would also keep the system in armed away mode if i was out for the weekend etc?  I figure by adding the extra 2359 automation i would 95%+ of the time have a system working as I want it to

[jguerdat]

I don't recall the various things I've tried. All I can say is to try what you can and let us know the results. I'm not the only one who would love to know.

[wenklaw]

So I tried my last suggestion and guess what it doesnt work!!!  It doesnt disable the schedule automations I have when leaving the property.  I manually disabled them and then when i returned it did in fact re-enable them as per the automation.  

The 'test automation' button proves in isolation the triggers do what they should but i fugure the automation settings within the actual arm away mode are causing a conflict.

ARLO SORT THIS MESS OUT PLEASE

[BrookeN]

Can you please try setting it up as follows:

1. Setup a Schedule Automation

2. Setup Arrive->

                             ->Action-> set to Standby
                             ->Action->Enable Schedule Mode
3. Setup Leave->
                            ->Action->Set to Arm Away
                            ->Action->Disable Schedule Mode

[wenklaw]

1. Setup a Schedule Automation

2. Setup Arrive->

                             ->Action-> set to Standby
                             ->Action->Enable Schedule Mode
3. Setup Leave->
                            ->Action->Set to Arm Away
                            ->Action->Disable Schedule Mode

So for all my schedules i need to add an action to enable or disable them in setup arrive and leave?  

Isnt that what ive done as per my screenshots above?  It doesnt disable the schedules when you leave the property

[StephenB]

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@BrookeN wrote:

Can you please try setting it up as follows:

1. Setup a Schedule Automation

2. Setup Arrive->

                             ->Action-> set to Standby
                             ->Action->Enable Schedule Mode
3. Setup Leave->
                            ->Action->Set to Arm Away
                            ->Action->Disable Schedule Mode

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This still wouldn't work.  When you arrive after 2230, the system will be set to standby, even though the schedule would normally set it "Arm Away".

[wenklaw]

So I deleted everything and st up as you’ve suggested and it doesn’t disable the schedules when I leave

this needs resolution as clearly arilos coders don’t know what they have actually implemented 

[BrookeN]

Can you please send me the screenshots of how you have your device set up with schedules and geofencing?

[wenklaw]

I will post some screenshots but I’ve found why it doesn’t work as you prescribed.

Within the ‘modes’ there is a setting to disable/enable automations when that mode is enabled.  By default all automations are enabled meaning it just overrides the disable automation when you leave the property and geofence arms away and leaves the schedules enabled 

 

I’ve disabled as above in the actual arm away mode and now when I leave the property it disables the schedule automations (they grey out) and when i return the schedules re-enable.

I imagine though it still won’t work as it used to if I return home after 2359, the only way to test is if I move the times as I’m not staying out to 2359 to prove something Arlo have made a complete cluster fcuk of.

This overly complicated process also limits your arming options when at home as you can’t add any custom modes like you could do before. This method now renders arm away only to when you’re out because if you use it when at home it will screw schedule automations up as it will disable them. 

[BrookeN]

I have put in a feature requests for custom modes. There is a lot of users that are wanting this option. 

[wenklaw]

To be honest mate you need to request rollback to the old app and logic, it was simple and far more intuitive and customisable. This new upgrade is a massive step backwards and I can’t believe full testing was ever completed let alone signed off. 

[TWhite208]

And none of this will work until they fix the app doubling up your main device. 

Regardless of how many times I delete my iPhone, the app will add it back in as a device a second time. 

[alex_loo]

are these "edit geofence" screenshots from iPhone app?  I don't see them from my android app (4.17) here.

In particular, from here I can't see the option to enable/disable the modes ARM HOME, ARM AWAY and STANDBY, under "edit geofence".  Instead, I can only "change mode" to one of them.