Geofencing not working with second device

[Ensignia]

Hi. 
My wife and I have iPhones on latest Arlo secure app. Both setup the same way with location permissions etc. 

However for the last few months the system only goes to away mode when I leave the zone not her. I have had the system for a few years now and the geofencing worked well until then. 

We have reinstalled apps. Re invited etc several times now. 

My main concern is that the system is set up differently to when we are both away. She works from home and so the system is alerting too often. 

i would be less bothered by this, as I can manage the alert but with the new “fair use” policy coming in the geofencing needs to work properly. 

One odd thing is that it shows 3 devices on the geofencing enabled page. I’ve tried all combinations but it doesn’t work. 

I can’t remove the other device either. 

I see people have written about the geofencing page in the privacy - account section but I don’t have that option - just three links to active sessions, shared, delete. . I only show one accepted other user (my wife). 

if there is a way to reset all geofencing in the background and let me try to set up again? 

Thanks. 

[Ensignia]

just to add… I don’t have the “arrive” “leave” screen in the app or a way to get to it  mentioned in this thread.

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Secure/Geofencing-in-the-new-Arlo-App/td-p/1941418

Appreciate that might have been a previous version. But I’ve not had to look at it until recently as it worked perfectly when set up originally. Thanks. 

[jguerdat]

A couple of things:

- Make sure your wife opens the app on occasion or it will log her out. My wife wasn't opening it so Arlo thought she was out of the house.

- WHich user interface (UI) do you both use? The old one uses Library to view recordings while the new one uses Feed. The current app supports both UIs so it's not an app version issue.

[Ensignia]

thank you @jguerdat 

Yes my app doesn’t have a feed, it has a library. I think the interface difference may explain why I don’t see the “leaves” “arrives” menu as it’s done through the geofencing “mode” on the app I use. 

We’ve tried leaving the app open all the time too but that doesn’t seem to make any difference. 
Location permissions are set to always (and then you get the iOS reminder that it’s been accessing in the background) 

On my wife’s phone iOS shows the Arlo app as accessing location services with the arrow next to the app. So the app and iOS seem to be talking properly. 

[jguerdat]

Do both of you have the same UI that shows Library to view recordings or does your wife have the new UI that uses Feed? There's certainly a difference in how the UI works relative to geofencing. Check this FAQ to see if you find any issues (assuming you're both using the same UI):

https://kb.arlo.com/1085093/How-does-Arlo-Geofencing-work-and-how-do-I-set-it-up

[Ensignia]

Hi @jguerdat 

Thanks. Yes we are both using the same UI. And I’ve set up geofencing as per the guide on my phone. Both phones have the same location permissions set in iOS for the Arlo app. 

Last night we tried it on my wife’s work phone. All this did was add another device to select for geofencing. And when I did, I had the same problem. So I think there’s a problem with her “user” account with Arlo as an invited guest and/or the registration of the device with the Arlo system.

If I remove her as a user, and then reinvite, I now get three devices appear with her name. One is an old phone not used, her current phone and now the work phone. I can’t remove the other two either. 

With her phone (or any of them) enabled for geofencing, if I then deselect my phone (or turn off location services) it changes to “away”. It should not do this as her phone is right next to me with iOS telling me Arlo is using location services. 

Until a couple of months ago, everything was working. I hadn’t changed anything. 

I read people talking about raising a support ticket. I don’t have this as a support option. Have I missed something? I know I’m on Arlo smart premier Multi-Camera which isn’t a thing any more but I don’t want to upgrade to VIP support to fix something that should work anyway. 

I appreciate your help and any further suggestions. I really wouldn’t care so much but with the “fair use” policy coming the system needs to actually work. And also be smarter - like only keeping smart recordings instead of every motion! 

thanks. 

[jguerdat]

Are you in the area (appears to be UK and EU) for the fair use issue? As far as I can tell, other areas are not affected but haven't heard definitively whether that's true.

Support tickets require a subscription - do you have one? If so, use Settings, Support to select one of your cameras. Scroll down to Contacts to be able to speak with official support. This should be available using either UI in the app (not the web client).

I'm gonna tag the mods here since I don't have iOS so can't address any issues due to that. @JamesC , @ShayneS , @BrookeN 

[Ensignia]

thanks @jguerdat 

Yes I’m in the UK.

i do have a subscription - smart premier Multi-Camera. I’ve been a customer since 2020. But I see this isn’t available any more. 

I’d still expect to be able to raise tickets but using the app for support tickets. I don’t have that option. 

[jguerdat]

Try canceling your legacy subscription and subscribe to a current one. No idea if that would make a difference.

[Ensignia]

Ha ha 😀I thought of that - but the new one is more expensive and I don’t want to commit to a new more expensive subscription for a service that doesn’t work. Especially if I then get some sort of restricted service because of too many alerts being saved to the cloud because of this geofencing problem. 

Thanks for your help. Hope one of the other mods can suggest some ideas. 

cheers. 

[BrookeN]

@Ensignia I just want to double check on your wife's app does it show library or feed? As well as yours what does yours show?

[Ensignia]

Hello @BrookeN 

We both have the library. From what I’ve seen of pictures online I think we have the old UI. 

I’ve shared general admin rights so our apps work almost identically (except the bits which can only be set on the main account - like geofencing mode settings). 

thanks. 

[BrookeN]

I think we should try having you and your wife both upgrading to the new UI and then seeing if the behavior changes.

[Ensignia]

Happy to try this. But not sure how to make that happen. And a lot of people say they have more problems with it, judging by the threads on this forum. 

Before I try that could we look at the devices on my account? 

If I remove my wife as a user then the three geofencing devices assigned to her disappear. (The app is now only installed on one device). If I re-invite her as a user then those three devices reappear as available for geofencing.  Even though the app is only on one phone.

Is there a way to completely reset / delete guest users and devices from my account? I’m thinking that device association may be part of the issue.

[BrookeN]

There is not on the UX3 it would have to be on the UX4. You can kick start the update by onboarding a Pro 5 (even if you don't have one). The update will be pushed out to everyone within the near future. 

[Ensignia]

Thanks @BrookeN 

I will try that and report back. 

[BrookeN]

@Ensignia did that resolve the behavior you were experiencing?

[Ensignia]

Hello @BrookeN 

Yes. Sort of. And then no. 

The new UI didn’t seem to properly show the schedule and geofencing settings. 

I deleted every setting and invited the other account. 

I then reinvited. And was able to delete the other iPhones. I could change the name of the phones and they would update on the other phone straight so all good there. 

I then tried to set up scheduling and arrive / leave settings. 

I kept it simple to start with and good news! Both iPhones worked with geofencing. Thank you for your help on this. 

But last night I tried to setup the schedule and arrive / leave settings as I used to have them and it’s not recognising either phone leaving the zone. So something not very obvious in the configuration is preventing that. 

In the previous UI you could clearly set geofencing as the overriding setting and when “home” it would simply follow a schedule.

I have used this thread to help  

 https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Secure/Arlo-Pro-5-Setting-up-Geofencing-and-Schedule-Routines-to-...

So I can see how to make it work with two modes easily. But I want to have:

if home = “standby” during the day, “arm home” at night 

if away = “arm away”

It seems over complicated and non intuitive. If it has to be that sophisticated then it needs to include more guidance in the UI. 

Probably now a different thread topic but if there’s anywhere else I can look to make sense of it, let me know. 

But at least I now know geofencing with both devices CAN work… I just need to work out how.

thanks for your help

[BrookeN]

https://www.arlo.com/no_no/support/faq/1085093/How-does-Arlo-Geofencing-work-and-how-do-I-set-it-up

https://kb.arlo.com/000062942/How-do-I-add-a-Schedule-Automation-to-my-Arlo-system

I think these links may help as well.