Invited friend cannot see devices on their dashboard (Arlo Pro 2)

[sdmcgeown]

I have seen numerous people posting similar issues but none of the solutions offered really address this problem. There are, at best, workarounds.

I am the main account holder for my Arlo secure account. I have a base station and three Arlo Pro 2 cameras.

All I want to do is share these with my wife's account so she can see the footage as well.

I used the Grant Access feature, selecting all the devices and base station, and it generated an invitation that was sent to my wife.

These are the three attempts we made:

1. She created an account on her App and followed the link. At the end of the process, no devices were visible on her dashboard.

2. We tried again, this time using a different email address. She used a Chrome browser this time on her Windows laptop and created a fresh new Arlo account from scratch. Again there were no devices on her dashboard (browser and app).

3. Finally, I tried myself - using my other email address as if I were a brand new user, going through the process from scratch on my Macbook's Safari browser. Again, I could see nothing appear on my dashboard.

In cases 2 and 3, I could see that the invite was accepted. In the first case (using the app on both my side and my wife's side), the invitation was marked as pending.

This shouldn't be difficult to do. We've tried the app, Windows and Macbook, so can probably rule out a specific platform with a problem.

What is the correct process to add another user? The current documented process does not work.

Thanks, Stephen

[JamesC]

For the grant access feature to allow visibility to the shared account, both users need to be on the same version of the Arlo mobile app and UI experience. We're currently rolling out app updates for iOS and Android users, but all users may not have version 4.0 available to them just yet. If you have a support ticket open, I encourage you to continue working on a resolution with the support team. Otherwise, please send me a private message and I will assist further.

JamesC

[BONIS]

This guy nailed it ... if your added friend creates an account and then adds a location (which the app essentially forces new users to do) they'll have to subsequently delete that location and select the shared one once both users are on the same UI (which Arlo did an awful job of communicating to their users).   

Arlo and the tech nerds that put a bunch of effort into dancing widgets on an app but don't communicate the changes (or the impact of those changes) to their customers is why as a society we'll never have self-flying airplanes at scale or GPS driving apps that don't lead people into dead ends.  

Thumbs Down - Fart Noise

[MelissaGriffith]

THIS! This saved me from going absolutely insane. I cannot tell you how many hours I spent trying to get my husband access on the app. THANK YOU! 

[LoftyAnnie]

I agree that this crazy - even if it did work.  I have purchased two new iPhone 14’s which are identical- we have Arlo in place for several years.  After setting up the two phones the primary one can see the cameras and the secondary one cannot.  The primary phone has the old UI and the other phone has the new UI and does not display the cameras.  When trying to force the primary phone to upgrade to the new UI as per these guidelines it has no “Arlo home security system” - please assist

[LuNoel]

I kept trying to get get my cameras/devices to show on my phone (as a friend under a different email so that I do not get logged out every time I open my phone app while my computer app is active) without any luck. My phone had the new/updated app. Finally I clicked add security system on my Chromebook and got the link to upgrade the app on same. (I didn't think of doing that because it was working on my Chromebook but not on my phone, so I kept trying different things on my phone, even uninstalling and reinstalling the app...) Once I upgraded the app on my Chromebook the feed/devices populated on my phone. (I am currently taking care of my dad on hospice care and need to be able to keep my live view on my computer when near same AND on my phone when I have to be away from my computer so I will know if he needs anything or if he was awake... The only way I could get that to happen was to enter myself as a friend under one of my other email addresses. I hope this helps someone else as it is so frustrating when you can't get things to work and you don't have time to waste! 

[Jchambless]

Having the same issue.  I just have an Arlo Go and it doesn’t seem to be supported in the new UI so as a primary a can’t upgrade to the new UI or share access.  Help plz

[Elleaimesi]

Oh my God -- THANK YOU for posting this response from private message (not sure either why this had to be sent via private message?), but this had completely fixed my problem.  I have spent days looking for a solution -- doesn't make sense why this solution was so hard to find.

[curen]

It is good to know there is a solution, could you please share it with all of us that have the same problem? It will be greatly appreciated.

Regards

[Matt567]

This is very poor from a big company. 
It is still an issue. Please fix this. NOW would be good. I have the old UI on iOS  and my friend has the new UI on Android, both up up to date, sharing does not work. Useless

[kkapp1971]

THANK YOU!!!

[workingwithjohn]

Thanks, but how do you delete that location?  It looks like the app forces you to at least have one location defined.  

[Andrew_6701]

This does not work for older systems, neither the dashboard option will appear, and adding "Arlo Home Security System" does not appear either. The Arlo 5 camera option does also not appear as suggested in some other posts. 

Basically at a dead end with this query, my wife's feed says camera offline but if camera armed she can see recorded footage, but no live current footage. 

Wasted a lot of time on this query.

[jguerdat]

If neither the security system not Pro 5 show up in the app using the old UI it means that either the app isn't the latest (4.3 for both versions now) or you're in a location where the new devices can't be installed yet. The security system for sure is only available in the US so shouldn't set up but it's my understanding that the Pro 5 should be available worldwide. 

[Mizel]

It’s wild that this is still happening over a year later.. I just moved into a place and found out the hard way. Why they don’t allow old ui and new ui apps to work together is Mind boggling, why is there 2 ui with the new app version still. It should be forced update pushed once you introduce the new 4.0 secure app. There is no reason for there to be 2 ui’s in production and live for the same OS once they changed the to the new version what a mess

[StephenB]

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@Mizel wrote:

There is no reason for there to be 2 ui’s in production and live for the same OS once they changed the to the new version what a mess

---

I believe that they only expected 2 UIs to be in place for a few weeks.  But there were too many bugs in the new UI, so they had to slow that down.

[Mizel]

I mean I get that but that’s when you roll back the update and keep it on the original ui until it’s fixed… or offer it as beta so people understand the risks. how they didn’t catch the bugs if they are as bad as folks are saying prior to release to production is also concerning

[StephenB]

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@Mizel wrote:

I mean I get that but that’s when you roll back the update and keep it on the original ui until it’s fixed… 

---

The home security system required the update.  But I agree they should have given people a path to revert back to Library (including Friend Accounts).

[GSCabin]

Stephen’s story is exactly the same as our experience.  I am seeing no response, has anyone found the solution?

I also see references in other posts to speaking to a customer support representative but cannot find a way to talk with a person to trouble shoot.  Could anyone share a suggestion?

[aad7122]

Thank you.  I can't believe I had to read through all this to find out how to update the app on my end.  This is really lame.  I didn't a few hours trying to figure this out.  Frustrating.

[Glivig]

Thanks a million !!

[Eaboyle61]

I am unable to update to same UI that my wife has, so can’t share account. We are both on the same version of the software - 4.5(6272). Her account is the secondary account and has the dashboard. My account is the primary and does not have the dashboard, so wife can’t view our cameras. 

[jguerdat]

Choose to install either the Pro 5 or security system even though you don't have either. The first step is to migrate your account after which you can just back out of the bogus installation.

The new UI is totally different so set aside time to go through the whole thing and figure out where things are and how they work. Custom modes don't translate so you'll need to use the 3 default modes as best you can to do what you need.

[rgdressage]

Im trying to invite my husband to view the camera’s to be installed and qe have tried multiple times multiple different ways with no luck. Qe just got hung up on at arlo support. Needless to say we are not impressed. Please help. 

[Mizel]

*** i juat copied others responses and tried to make it sound simple.... So on whoevers account that can see the cameras in the app, Choose to install either the Pro 5 or security system even though you don't have either. The first step is to migrate your account after which you can just back out of the bogus installation. Just keep saying yes then at the end just cancel when searching for the fake device to install.

the solution is both parties having the new interface. You can do this by going to add new device > system. You cannot go back to the previous interface though which I feel is better. I'm hesitant to do this because my friends and family who have previous gen Arlo will be forced to do the same. If the new app was organized better I would do it.

This shouldn't be complicated though.

The new UI is totally different so set aside time to go through the whole thing and figure out where things are and how they work. Custom modes don't translate so you'll need to use the 3 default modes as best you can to do what you need.

[rgdressage]

Thank you!  That worked!!!

[Mizel]

Not sure why its not a kb article or just a pop up on the app screen when you try to share a location. Hopefully this goes away eventually